Flecks of Gold

http://lds.org/pages/flecks-of-gold?lang=eng

Excelsior!

The shades of night were falling fast,
As through an Alpine village passed
A youth, who bore, 'mid snow and ice,
A banner with the strange device,
Excelsior!

His brow was sad; his eye beneath,
Flashed like a falchion from its sheath,
And like a silver clarion rung
The accents of that unknown tongue,
Excelsior!

In happy homes he saw the light
Of household fires gleam warm and bright;
Above, the spectral glaciers shone,
And from his lips escaped a groan,
Excelsior!

"Try not the Pass!" the old man said;
"Dark lowers the tempest overhead,
The roaring torrent is deep and wide!"
And loud that clarion voice replied,
Excelsior!

"O stay," the maiden said, "and rest
Thy weary head upon this breast!"
A tear stood in his bright blue eye,
But still he answered, with a sigh,
Excelsior!

"Beware the pine tree's withered branch!
Beware the awful avalanche!"
This was the peasant's last Good-night,
A voice replied, far up the height,
Excelsior!

At break of day, as heavenward
The pious monks of Saint Bernard
Uttered the oft-repeated prayer,
A voice cried through the startled air,
Excelsior!

A traveller, by the faithful hound,
Half-buried in the snow was found,
Still grasping in his hand of ice
That banner with the strange device,
Excelsior!

There in the twilight cold and gray,
Lifeless, but beautiful, he lay,
And from the sky, serene and far,
A voice fell, like a falling star,
Excelsior!

--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Come What May...and LOVE it!! :D

There's not just 'one way' to be happy.

Let the pieces fall...fall where they may.

You can't catch them in the air--

Nor plan your course 'round who knows where.

You know your end, so experiment along the way!

--me, just now. :)

Okay. So if you couldn't tell...I'm not asleep yet.

I've been thinking. a very dangerous and wonderful thing to do.

For the past couple weeks I have been going through several boxes. Boxes which I have not been able to go through for years...and not for lack of effort, but because I wasn't ready to let go.

I have a past. Everybody does.

It astounds me, just how hard it is to let it go. Sometimes there is needless guilt and shame. At other times the siren sings her sweet song of happy memories and nostalgic "better times." This is like poison for the would-be-baggage-free sailor of change. The pain of certain recollections can also act like quicksand, spiraling you down into an abyss of tainted memories. There is confusion. Uncertainty. Fear. An unwillingness to let go. Not knowing how.

It is hard to let go.

But I am on this voyage of change. I am taking a chance. The chance to live.

I am leaving for Provo, Utah in a week. Hopefully to attend BYU-Provo. My plans have not settled yet. I am exploring possibilities. SO MANY possibilities. (even more when you are an insomniac with a predilection to planning and re-planning your life every night)

I don't know what my life will hold...but is Really is WONDERFUL!! :D

Even when I don't believe it.

A Little of Life

• Earthquakes, fires, Steaks...just not here.

• We've had car crashes, sunburns, rashes, and only hamburgers...here.

Life is pretty typical right now. So much to do, so little time. Except for our favorite car, the Honda Fit, being totaled, and my Grandma breaking her ribs, chest, and neck...life has been relatively uneventful.

Well, this is not quite so.

My sister, Sarah, is here with her darling little girls!! It is WONDERFUL!!! :D

D.C. Zoo on Monday. Cousins on Tuesday. Beach on Wednesday. And that's as far as we have planned. Which is all you need. You only ever need to plan one step ahead...as long as you know the end goal.

Let's hope I can sleep. Taking naps with children is wonderful, but it has it's drawbacks. Like being up at 3 and 4 am!

Overdue Update.

It has been quite some time since last I have rambled.

Life has been happening quite a lot lately.

So what's new?

-my family has two foreign exchange students this summer.

two boys:

DavId (pronounced daaveed), 13, from Spain,

and Andrea, 15, from Italy.

-two real-life australian visitors.

-a weekend with 13 people under one roof.

-40 mosquito bites all at once!

-dogsat Princess...the sweetest black lab you will ever meet.

-been to the beach twice:

once with the fam...surfed, wiped out, surfed;

once with the amazing ondricek girls...where...

I was buried alive in the sand.

attacked and stung by jellyfish.

and pummeled by the waves all day.

...9 and 12 year old girls are the BEST!!

WONDERFUL DAYS :)

-wiffleball wednesdays

-bowling on monday nights

-institute

-BBQs

-sister time

-cousin time

-SWIMMING POOLS!!

-haircut

-midnight showing of HARRY POTTER 7.2...I have his glasses!! :D

(best friends make everything possible)

AMAZINGNESS!!!

AND

GRAND FINALE:

-I went to Long Island for the first time since I graduated high school! One of the people I love most in the world, Elise Marie Pereira has changed her last name to Urhan.

(because she is now Rich...ha.ha...lame joke :/)

I had the honor to play music during her wedding ceremony.

Two of the songs I wrote last summer just for the occasion.

Just for her.

And him.

Them.

sigh.

I <3

weddings.

:)

-that is all.

or enough

for now.

p.s. there has also been work. a lot of it.

p.p.s. I am moving to Provo on August 23rd!!

gasp.

that story is to be continued...

War. What is it good for?

Somewhere is South Jersey there is a mosquito. Or there was a mosquito. For you see, somewhere in South Jersey there is also a trampoline, a girl, and the said mosquito which takes advantage of nighttime jumping tourneys.

There was a war:

The mosquito won forty battles,

but now lives to fight no more.

The girl won none save one

and lives to pass on this lore.

SERIOUSLY. FORTY!!!!!!

So much for my summer-time goal: "no sunburns, no mosquito banquets."

Both have already been accomplished with the addition of jelly-fish encounters.

I am one busy girl! ;P

K-Knock

This is a joke I made up at work the other week when I had a little mental time on my hands:

Knock. Knock.

Who's there?

....

....

....

Nobody's there!

ahahaha...

Yes, it only took me 23 years to figure this one out.