What would it be?

If my life were a movie it would be one of those epic love stories with lots of drama, but plenty of laughter. There would be an underdog to cheer for, a heroin to save, a villain to over throw, and lots of personal triumph. I know I would give it two enthusiastic thumbs up!

All this brings me to another thought I've had. Don't you think that life should come with a soundtrack? I mean, wouldn't it be incredible, if out of nowhere, music started playing before your first kiss, or during your first heart break. I would love to have a song for every perfect and gut-wrenching twist and turn of my life. It would make everything much more dramatic, and even more beautiful. Don't you think?

Right now my soundtrack would include:

Ingrid Michaelson
Mindy Gledhill
Paul Cardall
Allison Krauss
Switchfoot

Of course it changes from day to day!

What would your soundtrack be?

Snapshot

I love it when a photo captures the essence of life. It holds a place and picture of the goings on of the season. It sums things up perfectly!! This photo does that.

Activities abundant in the Iverson household lately include:

• Swimming in the kiddie pool out on the lawn. (Thank you Amber)
• Lots and lots of stories.
• Disney movies galore.
• Youtube videos for children.
• Making messes.
• Playing with toys.
• Snuggling in blankets.
• And of course basking in the light of these two adorable faces!

(Pretty much the only thing missing is an otter pop in someones hand.)

As you can see, life is good.

And so much more

My Anthropologie catalog arrived in the mail today..........oh glory be!

I am passionately in love with every single item in that blessed store. I know it's not good to covet or long for material possessions, but everything is so frilly and beautiful, and so tempting!

I counted 5 pairs of shoes
5 cardi's
3 blouses (who uses the word blouses anymore?.....I do!)
4 dresses
2 jackets
2 rugs
6 comforter sets
and
1 pair of curtains, that I must have.

And that was only in the catalog.

Anthropologie is delicious, it is feminine, it is unique..............and it is pricey. That is why my passion has to be held in reserve for that future place where I have all the money I could ever dream of. That place does exist.....I know it does. People tell me it is imaginary.......but it can't be. I'm never going to give up hoping, because dreams really do come true. If you don't believe me.....remember this post? These beauties are sitting in my cupboard as we speak!! Oooh, I think I'm going to go pour myself some creamy chocolate milk right now!

Here's to pretty things! clink clink!

*wink*

Messy

Am I a messy person? I don't know. It feels like it most of the time.

I don't like that feeling.

When we were young, Amber's side of our room was always so neat and tidy, her bed made to perfection. I recall her disgust with her messy older sister whose clothes were dropped here and draped there and piles of stuff, books, important papers, and sentimental items covered nearly every surface....I guess I can't really blame her.

Clutter is so unhealthy. I'm serious! Studies have been done.......there is proof. I try to clean things up....I try, but I'm not like my mother or my sister. Within the day of a good cleaning, piles are forming and clothes are draped and dropped. I must say, it drives me crazy! It makes me sad. I am so easily distracted by books and blogs, creative ideas, projects, cuddles, kisses, delicious food and good conversation. Chasing messes all day is too much, it distracts me from my distractions.

They say that cleanliness is next to godliness...............*long sigh*...........I want to be next to godliness. I do.

Sometimes I wonder if my outward mess is just evidence of cluttered surfaces on the inside. If that is the case, perhaps I just need to clean off those surfaces and then all of the physical ones will stay clean too.....finally. Perhaps there will then be enough of me to chase messes AND do the things I love.

Prayer, fasting, meditation, study, self reflection, energy clearing, focus, humility and the power of Christ's atonement. It sounds so simple. The solutions do exist. I am lucky, no, blessed to know what I know......it doesn't make it easy though.

Heavenly Father loves messy people, fortunately for me. My beautiful babies love their messy mama, and my Tyler loves his messy Michelle. They give me permission to love my mess......and I guess I do. My mess is glorious. It is mine to sort through and purge......and eventually let go of for good.

Some day I will be completely clean. My heart and my home.

Until then, please forgive my mess.

The lady around the corner

Around the corner from my Parents, lives a saint of a woman. She is the sweetest of sweet and as thoughtful as they come. Nearly every family occasion we have, finds her there, like a devoted aunt or cousin, offering help, treats, and a heartwarming compliment or word of encouragement.

She is from Holland, and she speaks with a slight accent.....you know, the accent where the "th" is pronounced more like a "d".

I love this lady around the corner.

She rides around town on a pretty bike with a basket out front. She cheerfully waves as you pass with her enormous dog on a leash and her basket filled with bags from the local grocery.

She is a little bit of Europe and I love a little bit of Europe.

I can't really pin her appeal to anything as silly as a pretty bike with a basket, though they do add to her charm. The real reason she is exceptional in my eyes is her apparent quest for Charity: the pure love of Christ. I am not a part of her inner circle. I do not know her daily struggles, but I do know she handles people with care and sincerity. She has a gift for looking at you and seeing who you REALLY are, not just your silliness and imperfection. Trust me, everyone needs a neighbor like this.

I must admit.....I do want a pretty bike of my own. I want to ride the country roads of my new home town. I want to scatter sunshine, and cheer. I want to handle people with care and sincerity, and most of all, I want to be gifted with Charity, and I want to share it with everybody.

Just like the lady around the corner!

This beautiful photograph is taken from one of my favorite websites Hello My Name is Heather!

This Gorgeous Life

We travel into the city, or "up north", as it is referred to here, about once a month. We usually stay with my family in Springville and hit up Costco, Wal-mart, and any other necessary stops.

It tends to be rushed and filled with the constant predicament of wanting to relax and enjoy family and friends and the need to get all of our errands done before heading back out to the desert.

I love it, and I hate it.

It's a price that we pay living way out in the unknown lands of the west. People think we are crazy, but.....we love it out here. I guess you could say, it is a price we are willing to pay. Besides Tyler and I haven't gone to rehab for our fast food addiction yet, so if it wasn't for our extremely remote location, we'd both weigh 300 lbs.

All that aside, I want to let you in on a little part of why I love Tyler. First of all, he loves his girls. I've mentioned that before, but I don't think you really get it. I mean he really REALLY adores them, and he wants to give them experiences that make them happy. Experiences that give them fond childhood memories. And I love him for that!


Last time we went to town we found a nice spot to stop on our way home. We pulled out our diaper boxes to use as tables, dug through our coolers and pulled out the hot dogs. Our hero daddy built us a fire, and hovered over the open flame roasting hot dogs for his hungry family. Emilee ran wild in the open air. She jumped up and down waiting to eat her hot dog, and then smiled like crazy while she smeared ketchup everywhere! Adeline cooed in the fresh air, and my heart swelled with love and contentment as I observed my little family.


This last trip was long and tiring. I built a cake, there was a wedding, Tyler rafted a river, we shopped and shopped and then finally late Saturday afternoon we set off for home. We were pooped....all of us. As we approached Delta, Tyler mentioned something about an ice cream cone, but I was in no mood to haul the babies out of their slumber, and away from the cool car in order to watch them smear ice cream all over kingdom come. No thank you!!

But, just as my sweet Tyler was about to move on, I had a change of heart......Yes!, I cried out......let's do it! Let's live our lives......let's eat ice cream! He smiled and circled back into the parking lot of the Delta Freeze. Once again our hero daddy saved the day. He reminded mommy that even though life makes us tired, it is still our life.......the only one we have. Today will never come again.



Thank you my love, for showing our girls that it is okay to have fun!!!

Love you a million x a million!

I'm practically a professional now

Here it is.....wedding cake no. 2! This time for the lovely Marnae!

(To see cake no. 1 go here.)

I realize I need to take some cake decorating classes and learn the secrets of the trade, otherwise there is an awful lot of praying and muttering bad words under my breath, as I try to patch holes and cover up cracks.

Probably not the most effective combo.

Marnae loved it though.....and that's all that really matters!

(So thanks for answering my prayers.......and sorry about the bad words!)

Congratulations Rick and Marnae!!