Hearts Full of Joy

fitness, reading, summer thoughts, remembering japan

my enduring favorite workout for the last 11 years:

life is so much better when i do my yoga every day.

recently finished reading:

a good read - insightful, well written, based on newly discovered letters & manuscripts. a little sad, but not overpoweringly so. makes one wonder what it was like for abraham to be married to her.

currently reading:

picked this up in hannibal, MO when i was there with mom & traci. promises to be good.

speaking of lincoln, we were treated to a sunday sociable on "lincoln in hancock county" by a research historian at the lincoln library in springfield, IL (one of my favorite places, and an added benefit of living here). it was very good. tourist season is here, and we have gone from living in a near ghost town to a summer resort. the perks are back, like the ahuna family polynesian dancers last night for family home evening. a family of 6 children, their 4 spouses, and 7 grandchildren. the fire dance was very impressive. even more impressive was the number of missions served, two law degrees, and dental school (and they can stil dance). even more impressive was that the grandma sat with the 7 grandchildren, ages 6 weeks to 4, and they were perfectly behaved, not a peep, not a cry, no problems whatsoever. if only my 5 & 8 year olds could be so well behaved, and my 2 year old....*sigh*

humidity is back (and fireflies too), and i love it. it feels life-giving and nurturing to me. it floods me with memories of summers in japan, and makes me want to go here:

tokyo disney sea resort, walking distance from our home in maihama (along with tokyo disneyland), and where we spent every minute that we could during our last summer in japan. noah has stopped asking almost daily when we are going to disney sea, but my heart still yearns for it on warm humid days. do i sound spoiled & bratty? let me just add that life as a foreign family in japan was a daily challenge (all 12 years of it - we loved it, but it wasn't ever remotely easy), and disney sea was a soothing balm. i am not a huge disney fan. but i do love disney sea: the one disney theme park designed for adults, lots of ambiance, and plenty of fun for the kids too.

noah is a just two months older in these photos than gracie is now ~ *sigh* again - how have three years gone by in a blink?

no problems growing hair for him :)

today is the last full day of school. summer vacation keeps sneaking up on me here in the u.s. we're used to six weeks of summer vacation from july 20th to sept 1st.

another note on humidity: many friends from the western u.s. are of the opinion that nauvoo is the most humid place on earth - impossible for anywhere to be more humid....it's not. every june in tokyo when the serious humidity arrived, (we never had central air conditioning) i would  wonder if it were possible to drown or suffocate from humidity, because it felt like a serious possibility.

on track

running track has been a huge time commitment for tashi this year, but she stuck with it, even though she very badly wanted to quit. because the school is 30 minutes away, and another school joins them for sports, she doesn't get home until almost 7:00 in evening (after starting the day with early morning seminary). and on meet days she is frequently out until 11:00 or 12:00 pm - yikes!  she runs the 400, commonly believed to be the hardest of all running events: the longest sprint. at the meet on tuesday, the coach made everyone run their events, plus the event that is double their event. to prepare for sectionals (region) on friday. so tashi ran the 800, and a few minutes later turned around and ran the 400. we were worried about her for quite a while afterwards, it was too much. she was awesome in the 800 though! look at her stride as she prepares to pass a teammate! her coach is excited about her possiblities next year, but tashi isn't so sure there is going to be a next year....
 

new-ness

i love january's fresh new feeling. i love change and new-ness. and i love bright sunny january days, which have been abounding. we've had amazingly mild weather after our snow and ice storms cleared away. the squirrels seem to be enjoying it too. (is it their mating season???) our yard is filled with silly, giddy squirrels chasing each other around the tree tops and across the lawn. yesterday we counted eight at one time. with no leaves on the trees it is easy to watch their antics, and they put on quite a show.

i am a picky reader...i want to read books that are:
interesting & thought provoking
well written
uplifting & edifying
captivating
and....
clean

i find it increasingly difficult to find books that meet these criteria. (couldn't jane austin have written more?) but it feels so good when i do. i just finished "the five people you meet in heaven", and loved it.

two new books that i am enjoying are:
"quilts & women of the mormon migrations"

i bought this at the daughters of the utah pioneers museum when i was in uath. i love all things to do with antique quilts and history...but still, i am impressed with this book beyond what i expected.

"fashions & costumes from godey's  lady's book" (the vogue magazine of the 1800s)

this is my newest passion....recreating 1800s fashions. i will be posting more on this soon.

and i am currently reading about eight other books....i like it that way.

here's a fun new thing that a great friend who is full of helpful provident living info taught me:

 

sprouting green onions! did you know that you can cut them down to the last 2 inches or so of the bulbs, put them in water, and grow them again? this is one week into our experiment. she says we can expect to get 3 or 4 cuttings from them.

i've exercised every day since i've been home from utah (starting dec 19th), except sundays, and christmas & new year's days. and i've done yoga on most of those days. it FEELS SO GOOD!!! when i'm in an exercising groove i can't imagine why i wouldn't want to exercise. when i'm out of the groove, i can't imagine getting back in. in june, i posted this, hoping that moving wouldn't throw off my fitness groove. well it did throw it off, and my new calling didn't help. time to get it together again.

a lovely day

every once in a while a day comes along that just begs to be blogged about. this was that day. nothing spectacular. just lots of goodness.

it all started by doing something i have long wanted to do....attend an estate sale. a friend and i drove about 30 miles to a darling little town in iowa, only to discover that the sale is tomorrow. we did get a sneak peek at what was going up for auction, including some amazing grandmother's flower garden quilts from the 1940s, a hay rack filled to the brim with buttons & beads, and other goodies. we were drawn there by the promise of 52 boxes of canning jars, which turned out to be mostly pint sized. but i came home with some small treasures that were going to be thrown out....a paper doll set dating to the 30's & 40s and a box of little aprons made from darling 1930s prints that would make the sweetest quilt. they were a fund raising project. people were asked to measure their waists and give penny for each inch! (can you imagine asking people to do that now?) the money was to go in the little pocket of each apron and be sent back to the "rainbow girls club". too, too cute.

we had extra time due to the lack of an auction, so before going home, we went to the state park, just a few block down the street from my house, and picked two boxes of concord grapes for me to juice. this was a loving friend who helped me pick, because she had already picked and juiced her own. the grapes are free for anyone who wants them - free is fun!

next on to the elementary to help with noah's field trip to baxter's orchards (just up the street from our house in the opposite direction from the state park). i held his hand as we walked through rows of trees, learned about 5 different types of apples, and watched noah picked his very own apple. golden sunlight was streaming through the trees - so perfect.

later i walked back to baxter's, with lexi, tashi, & gracie, to finally visit the friday afternoon farmer's market. i've been meaning to get there every friday since we moved here. but something always comes up, or my memory fails. i was rewarded with banana peppers, red bell peppers, giant egg plants, and sweet potatoes at great prices.

brock & i finished up the day with a trip to the temple, followed by annie's frozen custard. i'm feeling very blessed!

little bits of other days to share:

the last time i went to the temple:
i walked the mile or so home. it was raining ever so slightly, but i walked slowly, savoring where i live. the antique shop i had been wanting to peek into was finally open so i browsed, completely amazed by the tiny, tiny waist size of the gibson girl skirts. next, i stopped at the mill and bakery to buy whole wheat peanut butter cookies to munch as i walked. i munched too many, but enjoyed it so.

the last time i went for a jog:
it was evening. the soy bean & corn fields were turning golden yellow. they contrasted beautifully with the green pastures and wooded hills. as i turned around to make my return home, mist was settling into the vales between the hillsides. the sky was a brilliant pink, and lit up the golden soy beans fields until they glowed, with red barns adding addition splashes of color. and i was grateful. it is so healing & relaxing to run amid such beauty.

what an amazing world god has created for us. what incredible blessings he has poured out upon me. as i touch sun-warmed grapes, or breath sweet autumn air, i feel god's love. and i am grateful.

a lovley little jog

this morning i had the loveliest jog, east on parley, as it meanders towards carthage. not thinking of how far i was going, or how fast i got there, i followed the road out of town as it twisted & turned, went uphill & down. i savored the perfectly crisp weather as i passed green rolling fields with cows lazily munching amid huge round bales of hay, horses watching me with tails swishing, red tractors parked & waiting to work again, friendly dogs running out of white frame farmhouses and red barns or outbuildings made of old red brick & stone. i ran over small creeks and listened to the hum of insects and songs of birds, enjoying orchards with green & red apples, flanked by purple grape vineyards, corn and soybeans. bliss.

a little late

the olympics are over. i'm a little slow, so probably wouldn't do well at any sport at all. in fact, i'm sure thsi is true, but just for the fun of it....

You Are Gymnastics

You are agile, expressive, and precise. You have the drive to practice until you get something perfectly right. And you have the confidence to perform difficult moves when under pressure.

What Olympic Sport Are You?

feeling fit

i am in a fitness groove. hopefully moving won't throw off this groove. i had my third ballet class today, and have two more this week - loving it! and i am also loving, in approximately this order:

 1. jogging with lexi & tashi - so much funner than doing it alone!

2. the new york city ballet workout. if you can't find a ballet class, this is the next best thing.

3.tamilee web: i want that body - two different 15 mintue workouts each for abs, buns, and arms

4. best of tamilee web - again, great workouts for abs, buns, and arms. this is a brand new one, and i'm enjoying it because i have done #3 so many times and needed something new.

5. island girl hula cardio dance workout - when you want the beach, but can't be there. tashi & i enjoy doing this one together.

i also have a belly dancing workout that i want to try, but haven't yet.

it feels so amazing to be getting into better shape. gracie is a year old, and i suddenly have a lot more energy a year after giving birth. my pregnancies are so rough on me, it takes a long time for me to bounce back. a year from now, i'll be feeling so much better than i am now. i did that for seven years after tashi was born. every year i would say, "i feel so much better than i did a year ago, i had forgotten that i had ever felt this good." honestly. today, as i was running kids all over, i had a flashback to how much energy it takes for me to do something like fastening my seatbelt when i am pregnant. i throw up the ENTIRE time, and with gracie i would break all the blood vessels in my face from voilent vomiting about once a week. i also threaten pre-term labor, so have bed rest, and i am so low energy i can barely move. but i'm not complaining, the results (yummy babies) are completely worth it. and i would love to be pregnant again. honestly. (so yes, adoption was a great option for me, since i LOVE babies and children, and i got two delicious bonus babies, pregnancy-free)

dream come true

this week i fulfilled a dream. it was downsized from my original dream, but still a dream of 10 years or more.

as a child, my original dream was to dance ballet professionally. i was passionate about it. i was dedicated. i was willing to do anything to accomplish it...almost anything. i wasn't willing to move away from home, which is what it would have required. in the tiny town where i grew up (and live now), there were no professional ballet teachers. i took the ballet classes that were offered here, and spent summer in the "big city" with my grandparents where as a 10 year old, i took the bus downtown everyday by myself for ballet classes. i loved it. it made me happy. my dad built me a ballet bar at home, and i practiced what i learned in the big city as much as possible, but without a good teacher, i just couldn't progress. so by my 14th birthday i had surrendered my dream.

the downsized version of my dream has been to take ballet classes as an adult. but for 10 years i haven't been able to find adult ballet classes to join. adult ballet classes are big in japan, but they were all so serious, intense, far away and expensive.

now there is a good ballet teacher in our tiny town. and i have been wanting to join her classes, but she doesn't have an adult class. this week i took mia to her first cay of summer ballet camp, and sat down and watched as they stretched and warmed up. and i yearned to participate. so i did. there are three little girls, two young teenagers, and me. and tashi joined us on our second day. i LOVED it! yes, i felt fat and awkward, and a little bit silly. but it was worth it. so worth it. it felt so good to be moving my body that way again. i have been sore all week, and that has felt good too. mia, tashi, and i will continue our ballet camp, several times a week, for the next several weeks, and i am in heaven.

 the san fransisco ballet - i wish i looked like this. now that i have these photos posted, i realize how ridiculously far i am from looking like this, but a girl can keep dreaming.

on track

we have had great fun watching our girls run this year: seeing their improvement, sharing in their excitement, cheering them on. at the beginning of the season when they came home from a meet, the typical answer to my question of "how did you do?" was, "good! i didn't come in last." and we decided not to expect much from them. but they surprised us. by the end of the season, tashi earned a varsity letter as a freshman, and took first place at region by running the 400m (she is fast at his most painful distance) with her medley relay team.  lexi ran the 3200 (2 mile) at region for only her second time, and kept up the same pace as her best 1600 (1 mile) time, and just missed going to state. tashi has speed and lexi has endurance. yay girls! following their example, i have started running again, and i'm up to a mile and a half (but not at their pace).

 

run, run as fast as you can!

lexi has joined the cross country track team. perhaps she has the super-dee-duper cross country ability genes from her dad and my sister jill. time will tell. after only a couple of weeks of running (for the first time in her life) she can run 3 miles faster than I ever have  (so not fair). i would love to get out there and run with her, but not until i'm done nursing gracie-poo. i can't do intensive exercise and keep my milk.

at her first meet, she came in 16th out of 19 girls, and was just thrilled to have run the 3 miles without stopping. a week later, she came in 21st out of 38 girls! go, lexi, go!

lexi (on the left - what a cutie!) and some of her team mates, waiting to run. notice that mia can't stay out of the fun - she's got to be at the center of it all!