The Function of Uggs

I decided that Ugg boots deserved more of a nod on my blog than just a mention. Now, I realize the trendy-ness of the Ugg boot. There are oh so many images of girls wearing ugg boots and short skirts...this is silliness beyond my understanding. Perhaps this because they were created by a surfer, maybe? I don't know? Its not my intention to become this kind of trendy Ugg wearing girl. No, I wear them as a fully functional, super warm, and ultra comfy winter shoe. Now, I think its safe to say that I am the least fashionable and most boringly dressed of the Pace sisters, so clearly my choice of shoe is not fashion driven. Last winter, I was in awful surgical boots, I had no need for winter shoes. I was badly in need of something other than my Converse to keep my toes warm. While meandering around the Rack I came upon these Ugg boots. I will be the first to admit that they aren't exactly the most attractive or flattering shoes, but then I tried them on and...oh..my...heavenly sweetness. The are insanely comfortable. Deliciously warm.....I am hooked. I highly recommend them. Ugly as Uggs maybe, they are wonderful.

10 Loves

1. My gracious mother. What would I do with out her?
2. Massages. A fantastic pick me up from this dreadful weather.
3. My Ugg boots. You call them trendy. I say they're necessary.
4. The 20 minute uphill walk to school. Nothing like feeling the burn in the middle of the day in full snow gear.
5. Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. I am enjoying it FAR more than I ever imagined.
6. A fabulous English 3703 teacher. She is making To The Lighthouse a much more digestible burden.
7. Space heaters.
8. Brazilian nose drops....Brandon is sick and the help him breathe better than anything else.
9. Casch...that kiddo makes me laugh.
10. It's January 31st! One month less of this winter!

The Persistence of Memory

I was born on a cliff that ribbons off into the horizon that I never walked toward. Piano keys held up the mountains to the east. I tried to play the keys. I hoped if I played them just right I could keep the numbers from falling of the clocks. There were so many feeble attempts to produce harmony. It never worked. I couldn't help myself from playing dissonant. A number fell from a clock somewhere.

My house sat atop a tiny island floating in the ocean to the west. I would sit in the corner of an empty room and look out the window while the lyrics of Sufjan Stevens floated by on picket signs. I'm not afraid of you now. We can fix our own meals, we can wash our own hair. Since the time we meant to say much, unsaid things begin to change. And another number fell from the same clock.

Guitars would sink into the sands of my old elementary school playground. 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard Electric guitars were half way swallowed by the dirt and tiny pebbles and the dirty band-aids from children's boo-boos. Sometimes the strings would strum themselves and sing to us. Sometimes the strings would tighten too much and they would snap and children would cry and cry. Another number fell.

I drank my water with dynamite. There was always a long fuse and I was always so thirsty. I could never seem to keep the fuse out of the glass long enough for it to dry. It was always drenched, always sad, never able to light it. I couldn't seem to bring myself to drink from another glass, though it would have been the logical thing to do. The burnt out matches kept piling up. Numbers and numbers fell from the clock.

Tangled black trees grew from piles of rubble. The cradled a cracked window pain that if you looked through, you could see that the sun was actually a light bulb. It wasn't warm and it wasn't kind. On a particularly cold day, a branch broke from one of the black trees and the window pain shattered on the ground. And out of the broken branch, a white-blue light extended into the air. It's the only color I can remember. No numbers fell from the clock that day. They haven't fallen since.

Somewhere That's Green

I am literally aching for warmth and sunshine. This winter is taking one serious toll on me. I'm not sure if its the severe cold, the seemingly endless amounts of snow, my frigid apartment that everyone hates (because of the frigidness, I am beginning to hate it, too). The massive icicles fall of the side of our apartment and startle me awake at night, interrupting precious sleep. Pushing my way through the snow under nine layers of clothes and sliding around in my winter-dirty car all over the road is so beyond my level of tolerance. I think I came to realize this today, as I slipped and fell on the ice just outside the Marriott Library. I have to sigh at the thought that spring won't be noticeably here for four or five months. This makes me want to cry.
I need light.
I need warmth.
I need sunshine.
I need somewhere thats green.

I am...

obsessed with this light fixture....

I can't explain it. I just love it. One cannot explain a love of light fixtures...mostly because no one really has them. I found it at momastore.org. I love everything they have. Anyone want to buy it for me? it's only $80....only...

10 Loves

This weeks 10 loves....

1. Finding old friends here, seeing the darling families, and catching up.
2. My job. I am so, so blessed to have this job. I love the kids, I love my boss, she is the epitomy of generosity and kindness.
3. The gym. Running miles and climbing steps to nowhere really gives me a sense of accomplishment.
4. Date night with Bubbs.
5. Curling up on the couch with my hubby and watching a movie.
6. Phone calls with JaLee...I am soo glad we can relate on so many things. Just love her.
7. Blogging. I am sort of figuring this out. Its quite the nice little outlet for writing other than just long winded papers on Virginia Woolf. I have post twice today!
8. Nordstrom Rack.
9. Warm baths and a good book. Our apartment is so frigid that a hot bath is bliss, even if it is short lived.
10. Good health....This is Brandon's love this week...I'd have to agree.

The Disillusionment of Cinderella

Last week I went to the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (Yes, Utah actually has one). There was an exhibit on Cinderella. Versions of the story from other cultures and countries, various antique shoes, representing the glass slipper, portraits of princes and royal families, gorgeous gowns and exquisite mirrors, all with accompanying explanations of their roles in this beloved tale. A tale I have noticed that so many girls, young and not so young, strive for. This thought of such a blissful tale of love and an easily attained happily ever after...I don't want it. But thanks.

Maybe I should explain.....

Take Cinderella's family. Who wants a jealous family? I mean really...I, for one don't want my mother to hate me, banish me to sleep in the cinders, and seek a kinder mother figure in a jolly singing fairy. I don't want sisters who plot my demise and boss me around. No, I think maybe I will keep my supportive mother and silly sisters whom I just adore.

Next...Mice as friends? The last thing I want is to be caught singing to mice merrily in my bedroom. The just screams looney. Yes, I sing, but generally to an audience, all of whom can register the English language in their brains. And my friends, I prefer them tail-less and hopefully will remain unable to teach me to sew or help me with any domestic chores. I adore the friends I have and am pleased to say only a few of them have visible whiskers.

Lastly...Prince Charming? Charming? Maybe. Bright? Not so much. The poor boy didn't even think to ask Cinderella's name at the ball. In a frantic search around his kingdom he never seemed to notice that the girls who tried on the lost shoe didn't look like the girl he danced the night away with. And really, he loves her because she is beautiful? And thats it? What does he expect of her? No, I don't want a man that daft and oblivious. I happily and thankfully take Brandon who asked my name once and has yet to forget it. He knows me, all the good, the bad, the beautiful, the oh so ugly, the smart, the silly, the unknowing, the happy, the sad, the confused, and the joyful...all of it. He knows this, and he loves me. He still knows my face without my shoes on. And I adore him. While still not an expert in marriage, I know that it requires more than charm and beauty. We work hard on a good marriage. We respect each other.

I love the reality that I am living in. I don't need the disillusionment of Cinderella and other fairy tales, I don't need to compare my life to these stories or to other people. I am happy. I love the imperfections, the randomness, and the silly moments. I'm not so worried about the ever after. I am not expecting perfection. I will keep praying for what I've got. Its a beautiful thing.

Tagged-Favorite Toys

JaLee tagged me...I must confess my favorite toys, embarrassing or not. ..

First...I'd have to say my iPod. I love this little thingy. I use it almost daily, at the gym, walking to school, or when I am cleaning around the house (our walls are paper thin and oh, how the sound carries). It somehow makes the mundaneness of climibing stairs for 45 minutes (and getting nowhere) much, MUCH less dreadful. I love it, love, love, love it.



Secondly, I am going to have to say...books. Loads and loads of books. I currently have two stacks of books that need to be read. The first my pleasure reads, the pile that will probably never quit growing, seeing as how I add them faster than I can read them. The other is the "Must" reads, for school. This pile although interesting is daunting because of the material. (Can I just say how LONG WINDED Henery James and Virginia Woolf are? Oh brother..)



Third? Hmmm... I am going to say DVR. This is a fairly new addition...But I love it. I love not missing CSI or A&E Biography or.......The Girls Next Door (This is soo my guilty pleasure). It sure makes may bouts of insomnia a bit more entertaining than say....infomercials.



Fourth is me bed....oh dear...that may have sounded not quite right as one of my favorite toys! Ha...but honestly. I adore my bed. It induces in a person the exact image of what the word "slumber" means and should feel like.

Fifth is crocheting. (This list is an awful lot like JaLee's...all in the family right?) This is perhaps the only domestic thing that I do consistently and not terribly (besides cleaning!). I only know one stitch. Just one. but it has allowed me to make hats, scarves, and a whole blanket...which I completely unraveled and started over...twice. I like having something to do with my hands and the feeling of creating something.



Alas, I must also conclude that I, too, am something of a dork. But I think its ok. Better a dork than a weirdo. I tag Lindsey, Kandace, Launi, Krya, and Cristi.

10 Loves

I have been lacking in the gratitude area lately. So I am going to try to fix that by regularly adding 10 things I am loving at the moment or am grateful for.

1. Brandon's ski socks. Without them my poor, frigid feet would get frostbite from our igloo of a bedroom.
2. Dinner with friends. Gotta love my Lindsey.
3. The internet. We just got it reconnected today after our move last weekend. I have never felt so disconnected from the world...literally and figuratively.
4. My cutest grandparents, parents, sisters, cousins, nieces, nephews, in-laws, step-brothers, friends who might as well be family......they make our lives so interesting.
5. Insulating window plastic...Thanks to this our house is no longer utterly freezing, its just now cold.
6. Bubbs. I am always grateful for him.
7. I am required to read incredible books for school...Henry James to Harry Potter...does it get any better.
8. Text messages. Nothing like a sweet digital nothing waiting in your inbox to put a smile on your face.
9. Hand lotion.
10. Sore muscles from my workout yesterday...Gotta love that "hurts so good" feeling.

Reason #6245 Why I Love My Job

I can't yet brag about or laugh at my own children, so I will just brag about and laugh at other peoples children. This video is of my buddy, Austin, and his friend Josh. They make these "music videos every once in awhile and their attitude cracks me up. (Austin is in the stripes.)

Sometimes life is funny. Sometimes it hands you a cookie. Sometimes it humbles you.






Ahh...the increasingly lovely perks of my job. My boss gave us incredible tickets to see Billy Joel when he came to salt lake. Honestly, what can I say about the man that hasn't already been said? Incredbile.
Love it.

Brandon got in fender bender a few weeks before Christmas. The first accident he'd ever been in. Some damage was done, but nothing he and his pops couldn't fix.

Two weeks later.....He was in another accident. This time, the car was totaled, the front end completely smashed up. Needless to say, we were both more than a little bummed.

After studying and cramming and writing for finals B and I decided to take a little Merry Christmas trip (for ourselves) to go see Haley in LA and for a party for Aunt Joan. We spent a couple of days at Universal Studios and had so much fun. Haley officially dubbed Brandon "Brother Husband." We had such a good time.

(oh man, I couldn't flip it!)

B doing voice overs for Tinkerbell and King Kong. He made for a very manly fairy.

This is about as sexy it gets....


Right now we are getting ready to move to a much cheaper, albeit older, apartment downtown. With school starting and work and all this stinking snow its going to be long week...which I am only further putting off by writing this. So, perhaps I better stop as boxes and the Turn of the Screw awaits me.