Glasses, no apologies necessary

Recently, I was reading my cousin Zach and Ginet's blog when I happened to scroll down to look at picture's of cute Ginet with her gorgeous daughter, Adeline, who is Ellie's age.  At the end of that particular post, she used an asterisk and explained her reason behind wearing her glasses because people had been asking.  Her reason being that she had an infection in her eye, therefore not allowing her the use of her contacts.  This got me thinking about my personal glasses wearing and the trials and tribulations that I have gone through answering the endless questions about why, how long, and my favorite, is it because of your weird eye?

Yes, that weird eye.  Sure, it happened because I was in a seemingly harmless "rock fight" in the  fourth grade.  I know what you're thinking.  How could anything such as hurling rocks at other classmates five feet away be harmful? Well, apparently it was only harmful to me.  And it's ok to look directly into it.  Only once has it put someone into a trance, and that's how I got Hubert to marry me.  Ironically, the weird eye has perfect 20/20 vision, whereas the other "normal" eye, the one with, as some might say, the "problem,"  is the eye that has poor vision.  But I haven't always worn glasses.  It all started when I began college and couldn't see the board in one of my stadium seated classes.  Ever since then, my eye sight has only gotten worse.  But let me continue.  Why do we glasses wearing people, whom I refer to as "impaired visionites," feel the need to explain or even apologize for our use of our glasses.  Do people with canes apologize for their use of their stickly support?  Do hearing impaired people apologize for that lima bean shaped hearing aide in their ear even when it's turned up so loud you can hear the whinning sound from down the street?  I think not, nor do they feel the need to.  So why do we?  It got me thinking about glasses and what wearing them means to most people, people who do not wear them.  First, I will show a picture

I know that this movie didn't bring on the "nerd" stereotype that comes with wearing glasses, but it sure perpetuated it.  But why are we considered nerds?  Does having bad vision really place us in a category that allows "jocks" and "cheerleaders" to make fun of us?  It shouldn't, but for some reason you will find that it does.  Maybe it's because these kids who do wear glasses are picked on by the "cool kids", making them feel not good enough or embarrassed to play sports or other such "cool" activities, therefore making them study harder, making them smarter, and in the end, having successful careers such as professors, doctors, scientists, etc.  I'm not saying that everyone that wears glasses is smart.  I mean, look at this guy

I'm just saying that the past and present has shown that the smarter people have donned spectacles.  For example, we have Ernest Hemingway, the great American novelist,

Allen Ginsberg, the renowned and beautiful poet,

And Tina Fey, the funniest woman in entertainment today

I could go on with the be-spectacled people, but I won't.  In the end, I will say this.  When someone asks you why you are wearing your glasses, just tell them that you were one of the chosen few who were asked to be smarter, more witty, more clever, and more stylish than then they are.  Then, when they are looking at you with a look of bewilderment, take your glasses of, breathe on them, clean them, place them back on your face, and walk away.  And remember, no apologies necessary.  

Family pictures...of Ellie

We took our family pictures last month and we finally got them back so I thought I would post a few of my favorites of Ellie because let's be honest, everyone would rather see her.  I know I would.

A fun and festive day

On Thursday, we had the opportunity to attend the wedding of Hubert's cousin, Nancy, in the Salt Lake Temple. Unfortunately, the ceremony was at 9:00 am, therefore putting us right in the middle of rush hour traffic and then leaving us to find parking in downtown Salt Lake, which is atrocious. So, instead of driving, we took advantage of our new train, the Frontrunner, which runs from Ogden to Salt Lake and I have to say that it was WONDERFUL! They have a stop about two minutes from our house and it took about 25 minutes to get into Salt Lake, and then another 15 minutes on TRAX, which is the trolley that runs within Salt Lake. The picture above was taken on the walkway above the tracks.  So, in all the trip took 40 minutes and it could have easily taken closer to an hour and half. I encourage everyone to use their public transportation not only because gas prices are insane, but because we all need to work harder to help the environment and using less gas will definitely help. But not only was the train fun to ride, we had a great time with Hubert's family and we got some great pictures at the Temple,

And what would a great reception be without dancing, well, besides my wedding reception

And because Hubert and I wanted to dance, Grandma Natasha got to dance with Ellie

Holy Ragnar, Batman

Foolishly, stupidly, and I wish I could say without my knowledge, I signed up to run in the "Wasatch Back", also known as the "Ragnar," which I thought was an acronym for "Race Around Greater Northern Area Region." It's not. Apparently, it's the name of the individual who came up with the cruel joke of athletic ability and endurance, two things of which I am lacking. In short, it's a relay marathon that begins in Logan and ends in Park City, which is about 180 miles. The race spans two days, running day and night, and there are twelve people to a team making each person run 3 legs. My team consists of 6 great friends from my branch and also 6 other girls that I don't know well, but I'm sure I will know well enough at the end of the race. We all got together and chose our legs, and I chose the first leg. You can click on "Runner One" and the three numbers under that are the legs I'm running. I'm a little worried about the middle, downhill one, but I think I can do it, although I'm not sure how to train for 8.5 miles of downhill running. Any suggestions? But anyway, when I started training a couple of months ago, I was using running shoes that I have had for about 4 years.
Because of this (and my constant complaining about my feet), my wonderful husband for Mother's Day bought me this

Now, because I have learned my lesson, I have these

Also, a lot of teams dress up for this race and we are having a hard time coming up with something creative and funny to wear. If anyone has any ideas, let me know.

So Long, St. George

This past week Hubert, Ellie, and I had a chance to be in St. George for our first ever family vacation and I have to say that I don't ever remember having so much fun. We were lucky enough to have Ashley and Milo Baxter with us (unfortunately Jake had to work), and also Matt and Jenny Meese with their handsome twin boys, Graham and Harrison.

It was so relaxing and the weather was beautiful and we were very sad to leave, mainly because I was horrified of how Ellie was going to act in the car for four hours because driving there wasn't pretty. But, she did great and we got home safely. But although we all had a great time swimming with the babes,

playing tennis (Ashley, I want a re-match!), and relaxing with great conversation, I have to say that the best part was the newly opened In and Out Burger!

When Hubert and I were finally to St. George after the long drive, we both looked to our left and saw the mecca of all burger joints. All I could think of was that cheeseburger animal style. And even though we did go there twice, I wish it could have been thrice. So, so long St. George! Hopefully, we'll be back soon and thank you to our wonderful friends for coming with us.