"Give" Said the Little Stream

Elder Oaks recently pointed out that Brigham Young taught us a powerful lesson about the One who consistently went about doing good: "The difference between God and the Devil is that God creates and organizes, while the whole study of the Devil is to destroy" (Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe (1954), p. 69).

Recently I've had some pretty sweet instances with some other people who decided to build up, when it could have been pretty easy to make zero goodness happen.

Anecdote #1: After an amazing concert at the Deer Valley resort this July, I found my car had been hit while in the parking lot. Not much damage as far as size or effect on driving, but hundreds of dollars in repairing that small stuff. [Cue nice people.] Two scribbled notes on leftover tickets said that they were witnesses, to give them a call, and here's the license plate of the not-so-cool-or-nice-person who hit you. [Cue nice cop.] The cop takes this little matter into his own hands, follows up, and is able to verify that I was really hit by a Mr. So-and-So, and yes, he is a registered and licensed driver, so here's his insurance information.

Booyah. I'm saved from paying for repairs. And now my Toyota Camry has had another two pieces of bodywork replaced; when that car reaches 300,000 miles it's still going to look only three years old with all the repairs that accident magnet has received.

Anecdote #2: Picturesque camping spot by the Colorado River in Moab with my fun little group of girls from work for our awesome camping trip. While we're unloading and setting up camp, up pulls a sweet van (somewhere along the lines of a VW, but not.....) with a hippie-ish, mod, up-and-coming rock band who want to film a music video in the midst of our sweet canyon camping. I give them permission to do their thing, and to start the recording once we leave to do our sunset hike of Delicate Arch. Not a bad idea until you consider the bad idea that you have pretty much every possession you took with you back at the campsite, and it's just sitting there, free for the taking.

Uh-oh. What kind of stupid decision did I make? Why do I trust people so easily? Coming back to camp, we found a sweet addition (instead of desolation) of a gracious note and a CD of the Battlehooch. Check them out on YouTube to see their aspiring sound waves....and possibly a shot of our awesome campsite.

Anecdote #3: Still living this one out, as I don't finish my work with Provo Canyon until this Friday. Despite my negativity and frustration with high up administration, this has been an absolutely great place to work. Who else gets to have about 50 kids make them feel like they're on top of the world by the things they say, the attention they clamor for, and the silly things they do? Plus have recreation as the main focus of their job description? Plus have an awesome boss and co-workers who gives autonomy with lots of support?

Lucky, you say? Yes. But no. It's more like I'm super blessed by super rad people and my Heavenly Father.

Give, oh, give.

Cleaning Off the Camera

Sometimes I don't take pictures off of my camera until a year later. Which then means that no one really gets to partake in the goodness and fun until much later. Sorry about that. Here are a few snapshots from some memories of this past year.

#1) Henry made his first visit outside of his home to Christy's and my place, for which we were supremely surprised and honored. And to top it off, Trish and Matt gave us grape juice and thank you notes for our time helping them with Henry in his first few weeks of life. Those were some good times. It was neat to intimately watch a mom in action with her new gift of life, and see how they were adjusting to one another and their forever changed worlds. I loved that time together with Trish and Henry, and I love Henryman heaps!

2) Why would you ever document your Sunday dinner? Well, you can't really see it, but there is some awesome roast on our plates. And why, Miss Newman, would you document having a roast dinner? Because it's not just any roast, it's our Grandma John's roast--her recipe, and her roasting pan from her mother, Hazel Adeline Post McRae. Miss McRae was an infamous cook in her parts (St. David, AZ), and her roasting pan is tried and true. Luckily I have the pan and the recipe to thank for a killer roast.

3) I was the lucky one able to see Henry on Day 2 of his life. Matt needed to get some sleep before trying to function as a normal human being, and I got to spend some time with Trish and the little man. Here he is sleeping just after being fed. You might have noticed that Henry hands are out. Well, that kid fought me when being swaddled, and since he was only a day old, I didn't want to fight him that hard, nor did I have any experience, so he won out and looks like he's a little chipmunk with his hands up.

#4) Visiting Caroline Dunn and Emily Moulton in Wyoming! And it just so happened that Cosmo wanted his picture with us at the BYU v. Wyoming football game in Laramie. Fortunately, the weather was in the 50s on this November day, and the fans were polite to us womenfolk. And BYU kicked some trash, 51-0. Yeah, that's what I'm talking about!

#5) Classic family photo by the awesome landscape. Trish, Mom, Dad, and I enjoyed some Shakespearean Festival plays in August last year, and the girls visited Cedar Breaks while Dad fished at Panguitch. We eventually met up for our plays and our traditional steak at Milt's. So good!

More good times to come. And hopefully before months have passed.

Love you, Mom!

Mom, you're the best! Kudos for the good you've done this world, for your life of teaching all around you, and your example of goodness and happiness. I love you heaps!

A Little Bit Here and There....

Thinking about things that have happened the past few weeks. A few notables to share:

1. I toured Gunlock Resevoir and the town of Veyo on a road trip with my little nephew. Oh, others were there--he really enjoyed laughing and cooing at his parents the whole time. And....cool thing: Veyo has a delicious rhubar-berry pie and is home to the Veyo Pool Resort, a spring fed swimming pool that was built in the 1920's.
2. I found out that our house in St. George could find some very unwelcome visitors. These would be tarantellas, scorpions, and possibly a rattlesnake (good thing we don't have window wells where they like to hide). Oh, and our house might have a resident lizard. Pistol Pete jumped out of Dave's hands pretty quick and scurried to find some relief under our bricking on the front columns. Say hello if you see him on your visit.
3. Henry slept for 2 hours in my arms. Easiest babysitting. Ever. And now we've got a bond that is unbreakable.
4. I'm giving a tour of my facility in May to a BYU RMYL class. Funny how it wasn't (but was--2004) so long ago when I was in the same class...
5. I was present for two monumental developmental events in Henry's first three months of life: a hearty laugh, and rolling over from his tummy to his back. That's my little man.
6. Today was a first in using a sonic toothbrush. It's weird to feel vibrations from the inside of my head. And this one does the job, because if I leave it in place or press a bit firmer, it makes my whole head vibrate and my vision goes slightly fuzzy. Who needs drugs for a new sensation?
7. Just bought a plane ticket to Hawaii with my Fijian friend from work. We are going to have a blast. And with her looking and acting like a local, and knowing a ba-jillion people, we'll have the 'in' all over the place.
8. I'm working on getting my classic GT hybrid bike back in tip top shape, and planning on riding to work everyday. If it goes well, maybe I'll ride in the National Ability Center Summit Challenge.
9. I've almost caught up on all my paperwork at work....I've been behind since February with winter camping and skiing in the forefront. Now it's blue skies from here on out, and a big sigh of relief.
10. I dried strawberries today for the first time. SUPER tasty and yummy. If they go on sale again, we've got a keeper.

Cheers!

Who would've thunk?

This was a weekend of firsts. Let me narrate.

First, I had a sleepover at Jessie's house (a first), so that we could get an early start on our trip. At 2:15 a.m. our alarm clocks rang to get us on our way for a 3:30 a.m. departure (another first) for a group trip to Moab for a five mile race (a first) and a visit to Canyonlands national park (first #4).

Jessie drove the car I rode in, and I slept off and on, while Jason kept Jessie awake, and Dave and Jim slept. Jen drove the other car with Morgan, Jake, and Mark. We arrived at 7:00 a.m. to pick up our race packets, and, of course, for a quick bathroom break. Jen, Morgan, and I went to find the women's restroom, and upon entering, a man stated that he was almost finished and would be out quickly. We looked at each other perplexed at the situation of finding a man in the women's restroom (next first), and busted out laughing when it was Jim that stepped out and didn't even look us in the eye as he passed. Apparently Jim mistook the the men's restroom as being closed--it was open on the other side of the building.

Since it was so cold (about 24 degrees), we did a little bit of prepping and stretching at the gym where our race packets were, before we headed to where the busses were located to take us up the canyon. Since we would be at the start of the race for about an hour or more before the actual beginning of the race, we took along iPods and a frisbee to throw to keep us company.

They dropped 739 runners off at the Negro Bill's Canyon trailhead parking lot on Highway 128, where our little group occupied about 1/6 of the parking lot for our pre-race warmup of throwing the frisbee (again, a first). Probably the best warmup ever because it was so fun and I didn't tire out one bit. Plus, I it warmed up my ungloved hands in the below freezing temps.

Our actual start line was about 1/4 of the mile down the road, which our little group jogged to and sang "Viva la Vida" to keep our energy going. We were right next to the starting line (you guessed it, a first! and in the sun!) and were laughing and guessing how we would do since we really hadn't trained for the race (except Jake), and were running it anyway (first #8). I honestly figured that I would be running about a 9- to 10-minute mile based on my previous week's result in the Rex E. Lee 5k where I ran about a 9-minute mile. As a side note, I ran in honor of my grandmother, Barbara Johns, as a cancer survivor--one of the myriad of trials and successes she has had in her 80+ years of life. Running in honor of someone, and running the Rex E. Lee run were each firsts, but they didn't happen this weekend.

I didn't feel absolutely stellar, but I didn't feel too bad either, and just enjoyed the scenery along the Colorado river. At about mile 2.2 of the race, this awesome Japanese drum group was playing, which could be heard from about a 1/2 mile away as it echoed on the canyon walls, pounding out a beat that really motivated you to keep on moving. I've never heard a Japanese drum group (almost to 10 firsts), and really enjoyed their energy.

I finished the race at 42:47, with an eight year-old girl--I was so impressed at her stamina and ability! And I was absolutely delighted that I had finished so quickly, beating my projected time by minutes. Amazingly, I placed 78th out all the 5-mile runners, 35th out of all girls/women, and 3rd in my age group (25-29)! I've never placed in a race like that in my life, and considering I haven't run too many, that was pretty darn awesome (first numeral X). In fact, all five runners in our group placed in the age divisions: Jim 1st, Dave 2nd, Jake 1st, Jessie 1st, and myself 3rd. I've decided that from now on I will abide by three things for all races: not train much, run with Jessie, and warm-up with frisbee throwing.

Canyonlands was had absolutely beautiful vistas, and we enjoyed the scenic overlooks and small hikes to these amazing vistas. Plus, as you can see, we had a blast taking pictures, laughing and joking the entire trip.

The last first (#11) of the trip was a visit to Cathy's Pizza and Deli in Green River, a well liked, clean, little joint that where I got great fries, a chicken sandwich, and a blackberry shake. I recommend it if you're planning to eat in the area. Great way to top off the a weekend of firsts for the trip.

Good times. I love trying and doing new things, and I love my life.

My New Favorite Thing

Is to hold and just watch this little guy as he sleeps, looks around and explores, sneezes, or hiccups. Henry Matthew Sederberg was born at 4:28 pm on Wednesday, January 27, coming in at an impressive 8 pounds 7 ounces, and 19.5 inches! Mom and Dad are doing well, and the new family is learning to arrange their life around new sleeping and eating patterns. And I'm having a great time being on hand to help out--don't I have the greatest job ever as an aunt?!

The key, the passport

If I can change just one thing about myself this year, it is to pray more often, more fervently, and commune in sweet, simple, sacred moments of light and enlightenment with my Father in Heaven. Here's to power and peace.