PB & J

I hadn't had a good ol' peanut butter and jelly sandwich in many, many months. Let me tell you, there is no greater satisfaction for me than sitting in a kitchen, eating a delectable peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwich on wheat bread. Oh man. I'm so easy to please.

JTP Revisited

Just fyi:

My nephew Jack is the most adorable baby in the world. And the sweetest. And the most precious.

I may be a bit biased, though.

Oh well!

I'd put a picture of him on here for my Sunday picture, but I don't feel comfortable doing so. So I'm going to just have to pretend I put a picture up instead. : )

This Week

This week has been really nice. My mom has been in Des Moines (well, Ankeny) to help out my sister and her husband with Jack, and Wes has been in Japan, so dad and I were home alone for the week. I've immensely enjoyed spending the time with my dad, because he and I don't usually do so. It was a nice change, if you will. We're spending the weekend in Des Moines. I was happy to see my mom, not going to lie. And I'm spending a few extra days here but my dad is going back to Cedar Rapids. Poor guy will be allllll alone. He can handle it, though.

I'm incredibly glad to be here.

Deeeeeer

I just saw Mr. Three Legs in our front yard. Mr. Three Legs is a three-legged deer. Creative name, I know. I told my dad he was out front and he was surprised, because apparently Three Legs hasn't been around lately. We used to see him all the time, but not so much anymore. Every winter we think that he won't make it through, but he fares out alright each time. Poor guy. He's really strong, though. I mean, I guess you have to be, with only three legs....

Aw gee. I love Mr. Three Legs.

Clouds

As much as I've stated that I love thunderstorms and such, I really do not enjoy waking up to a cloudy sky. Ugh.

That is all I have to say.

Writing

My mom thinks I could be a writer.
Author.
Whatever.

Not as my main profession, of course.
Later in life.
When I have stories to tell.
Or something.

But I hate this idea.
And for some reason I kept thinking about it a lot today.

Now don't get me wrong.
I love it when my mom offers advice and her thoughts. Opinions. Ideas.
But oddly enough, whenever she brings it up I want to run out of the room.

I know you're going to read this, mom, but I had to get it out there.
I love you.
I just don't love writing.
At least not enough to consciously write something that is hopefully worthy of publishing.
I don't care if it's even along the lines of children's stories.
I couldn't do it.
I just couldn't.
So I won't.

Nightlight

I have a Scrubbing Bubbles nightlight.

I found it while helping sort things out for my church's thrift mart. The moment I laid eyes on it I knew that it just had to be mine. So I asked the guys in the electronics area to put it on reserve for me while I found my mom and asked for a quarter. Best 25 cents ever spent.

... Ok, so I don't actually use it. Well, anymore, that is. At least I used it for some time. It sits on a shelf in my desk now. Helpless. Perhaps even a little hopeless. But I know if I were to plug that baby in, it would shine on. Shine... on...

Humidity

I love hot weather.
Sunshine and humidity make for a very happy Natalie.

I know - crazy, right?
Who in their right mind actually enjoys humidity?

I believe the answer to that question would be me.

I can't help it! I simply do! My hair, of course is not too fond of it. However, that fact doesn't bring me down. Nope. No way.

It's not even that humid here. So there's really no room to complain, I figure.

Stairs

As I've mentioned on this blog before, I love Bever Park. And again, yes, it is spelled Bever. Pardon me for the pushing of its correct spelling, I'm a freak about that kind of thing. I've gone running in Bever a few times since I've been home and walked through the park a couple of times as well. It simply never gets old for me...

One of my favorite things about Bever are the somewhat-hidden places that I have come to know and love. An example of these places would be one set of stairs that are at the end of a deer path in the woods. The stairs lead to the top of a hill and a pavilion, but aren't actually used. It's kind of a mystery to me. Why were they put there? Was the deer path more of an actual trail than what it is now? Why were the stairs not maintained over time? When were they built? The stairs are littered with shards of glass, presumably of broken beer bottles... They are lined with moss and dry leaves, and fallen trees look as if they were simply tossed upon the stairs. Save the broken glass, the stairs and tree trunks would make a remarkable - albeit dangerous - playground of sorts.

Oh goodness. How I love Bever!

Painting

I got to paint some of our porch today.
You have no idea how excited I was to do so.

But when I went inside later to clean up, I took my hair ouf of my ponytail and noticed that there was a bit of paint in it. Just a small streak - yet I had no recollection of how or when it happened. I had gotten some paint on my hands and it washed right off, so I figured when I showered it would come out pretty easily.

Wrong. I didn't even think about it, though, until my dad and I were renting a movie and I suddenly remembered. I asked if he would check my hair for paint, and sure enough, the paint was still there. My dad said not to worry.

"It just looks like gray hair."

!

Abu

Today I was going through my documents on my computer. I was deleting old files and such when I came across this 'essay'. I remember that I was preparing for a Mid. East Civ. exam, pre-writing my essays (the professor gave us the questions that would be on the [essay] exams ahead of time). I was trying to find information on Abu Muslim al-Khurasani because there was absolutely nothing about him in my Mid. East Civ. books or my notes - which were meticulously taken, if I do say so myself. To this day I have no clue who he was or what he did. I got so frustrated that I wrote my own essay, on another - probably more important - Abu. After I wrote this I gave it to my suitemate and friend Darcy, who thoroughly (and thankfully) greatly appreciated it. I've decided that it's so ridiculous and absurd that I didn't want it in my documents anymore. But I thought I'd preserve it somewhat by posting it on here!

Natalie Keene
Professor Darcy
Goof-off 1010
19 September 2007

Abu Muslim al-Khurasani
[Or as most normal people like to call him, ‘Abu the Monkey’]

Abu the Monkey was first developed as a friendly companion to the namesake of the Disney movie Aladdin in the monumental year of 1992. To most who watch Aladdin, Abu seems to be a mere monkey who tags along with his best and only friend, Aladdin. However, there is more to this perturbing primate than meets the eye.

Although many viewers, namely children, may not pick up on them, Abu has many bad traits and habits that leave numerous parents and adults concerned. For example, one of the opening scenes of the movie shows Abu helping Aladdin steal a melon from Agrabah’s marketplace. Sure, the melon may be juicy and delectable, and the two friends are surely quite emaciated, but stealing isn’t a quality to be praised. Later in the movie, when Abu and Aladdin meet the runaway princess Jasmine, Aladdin takes quite a liking to the lovely young lady. Abu, sensing his new position as ‘third wheel’, imposes his jealous self on Aladdin and Jasmine, speaking in monkey-talk that presumably is meant to be mean, rude and disrespectful. In the same scene, Abu shows that he is inhospitable and not generous when he takes an apple from the princess, which was given to her by Aladdin at his and Abu’s humble abode.

Another "unique" aspect of Abu’s character is the fact that he wears a vest and fez hat. Although this is most likely meant to help give Abu a better sense of character and offers a more parallel relationship to Aladdin, the familiarity is disturbing. Monkeys simply do not wear clothing.

One of the most important parts of the movie Aladdin is when the young lad goes into the Cave of Wonders – with Abu in tow, of course – in search of the majestic lamp. As Aladdin traverses the steep staircase to where the lamp sits, Abu busies himself with being distracted by a large gem. Disregarding a warning to touch nothing in the cave but the lamp, Abu touches the gem, which immediately starts to melt and cause quite the disaster situation. Soon enough, he and Aladdin are trapped in the cave. If only that little monkey wasn’t so selfish… chances are the two of them would never have been in that predicament. Sure, they had the lamp and met their new friend, Genie, but haven’t you ever wondered what would have happened if Abu were more selfless? There are certainly a plethora of possibilities. For example, Abu and Aladdin would have safely returned the lamp to the strange, old man. Granted, this would have been bad, seeing how the man was really the evil royal advisor Jafar, but at least Abu would have set a good example for movie viewers by obeying Aladdin.

Abu also aids Jafar in calling Aladdin something other than his real name. True, Jafar merely messes up Aladdin’s alias name, Prince Ali Baba, but the mere notion is really quite terrible. Jafar calls Ali Baba ‘Prince Abu-bu.’ I, for one, would not want my name mixed up in Jafar’s strange conversations with his crony parrot, Iago.

In conclusion, Abu the Monkey is, quite possibly, one of the most despicable, abominable, shameless, parsimonious Disney characters ever imagined and created. I would advise all to refrain from viewing the Disney so-called classic Aladdin, and instead view another, such as ‘The Little Mermaid.’ Yet perhaps that’s not such a great idea after all. The character Flounder has just as many, if not more, issues than Abu… but that’s another essay for another day.

Driving

I really like driving.
Probably more than I should.

It's such a shame that gas is so darn expensive.

And that's all I have to say... about that.

[Name that movie.]

JTP

Jack Thomas Ponto was born today.
What does that mean?

I'm an aunt.
!

EOQUFDLSAASDGHOAJFDAL.
SO EXCITED.

More importantly, however, it means that my dear, dear sister is a mother.
She is going to be a magnificent mother - and Eric is going to be a magnificent father.

And I plan on being a magnificent auntie. Ha.

Raccoons

I picked up sticks.
I mowed the lawn.
I pulled weeds.

I didn't quite get to working on "the project" - but I'm not worried about it.

No matter.
All said and done, the crowning accomplishment of today was taking pictures of three baby raccoons.
!
Adorable.

I think I may have scared them a bit, but they brought it upon themselves! They were out in plain daylight, waddling along our driveway. I was kneeling, pulling weeds, when I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked over and there they were, walking towards me. I was so surprised, I stood up. They froze, then slowly backed up. I went inside to grab my mom's camera, since hers was the quickest grab, and they were still there, starting to make their way up a set of stairs. Then they made their way over to a tree and started to climb up. I didn't get too close (I put the zoom feature on the camera to a definite use), but they were captured in time forever as they inched their way upwards, looking down at me in seemingly morose... suprise. Kodak moment, for sure.

Yardwork

Tomorrow I'm going to spend the day doing yardwork - basically just picking up sticks, mowing the lawn and pulling weeds. The thing is, I'm really looking forward to doing these things. It'll be a good day, I think.

I'm also going to start working on my landscaping project. Well, I say 'my' project, but it's not solely mine. I'll start with measuring the backyard... the grassy areas and pathways... the areas around the trees... and then I'll map out a scale-to-size drawing of the area. From there my dad and I will start planning what we want to change in way of removing and adding things. I think he wants a small pond area, a patio area... and definitely more flowers. The yard is very, very green. There's not a lot of variety or color. We've got ferns, peonies, weeds, and that's about it. Oh, there's also some mule weed lining the fence, a crab apple tree, a red maple, and a pretty little birch tree. In the backyard, at least.

Not much to look at and enjoy right now. But by the time I (again, I say I...) am finished with the yard, it shall be a thing of beauty.

"Flood 2008"

The flooding here in Cedar Rapids was much worse than anticipated. Here, the Cedar River's flood stage is 12 feet - it crested at 31.8 feet. The water is receding, thankfully, much quicker than people thought it would. My family is lucky that our house is uphill from the Cedar River. Yet here I was for the last week, complaining about not being able to take a shower. How dare I.

Some people have lost everything. Downtown businesses have been destroyed. The public library was almost fully submerged. One of the largest and best known furniture stores in town, Smulekoff's, will be out of business for some time, I'm sure. Broken windows... wannabe sailboat furniture... Basically no one had flood insurance. You're in a 500-, 100-year flood plain... do you ever assume you'll be the one whose home or business is flooded out and need that insurance?

... Of course not.

There's a lot of damage.
There's a lot of hurt.
There will be pain.
There will be suffering.
There will be cleanup galore.
There will be questions.
There will be anger.

But there will always be a helping hand.
There will always be a willing ear.
There will always be open arms.
And there will always be caring hearts and love to spare.

Lucky?

What do you say is perfection? What do you say is happiness? What do you say is success?

I think there is no certain answer to any of these three questions. Certain factors play in... people's personalities, dreams and goals... and everything added together from each individual equals entirely different answers - as well as endless possibilities.

I've never thought of myself as a perfect individual.
I've never thought that I have a perfect family.
I've never thought that I have a perfect life.

I've had days of absolute sadness.
I've had days of absolute angst.
I've had days of absolute worry.

I've let great opportunities slip away.
I've let my grades slip away.
I've let friends and family slip away.

I think everything depends on one's perspective and attitude.

When I am about to implode as I hear my brother playing Dragonforce on Guitar Hero over and over, someone may look at us and think, 'I wish I still had my brother.'

When I think I'm having the worst day ever and I'll never be happy again, someone may look at me and think, 'I wish I could be as happy as she is.'

When I get a test back that I thought I had aced and see that I only received a B- and want to give up, someone may look over my shoulder and think, 'If only my D- was her B-...'

The truth is, my life really is "perfect".
I've had good times and I've had bad times, but I have nothing to complain about.
The truth is, I've certainly experienced absolute happiness before.
Yes, I have experienced other emotions, but I know there is always room for happiness.
The truth is, I know I have been and will be successful in much that I do.
I know that I will fail and make mistakes, but that in doing so I will be learning.

Lately I've really been thinking about what everything truly means to me... how important my family and faith are... how I can be a better person and friend... and how meaningless this life can become if we focus on the negative and not the positive. In seventh grade I would have rolled my eyes at someone saying "It's all about your attitude." - but I finally realize how true that is and the importance of a good attitude.

Hands

It's one of those questions... you know, questions that are interesting to ponder for the first two mintues, but in reality don't matter at all...

"Have you ever really looked at your hands?"

Meaningless, right?

... But have you? Have you truly thought about how amazing our hands are? In all that they can do? I'm not just talking about how fascinating our opposable thumbs are, people. I'm talking about the whole darn thing.

They can touch.
They can feel.
They can crush.
They can hold.
They can squeeze.
They can bend.
They can make.
They can hurt.
They can break.

We can do horrid things with our hands.
But we can also do amazing things with our hands.

I've always said to myself, "If I can find a job where I simply do things with my hands all day and help people in the process, I'll be good to go."

I wonder if one day I'll be able to sit down to write in this blog and say that I've found that very job.
We'll see!

Burt's

Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm.

Yet another of God's great gifts to mankind.

I had been deprived of using this delightful stick of balm for my lips for the past five months or so, and it was quite the joyous day when my mom came to Utah to bring me home. Why? She had a stick of the balm in her purse.

And I've been using that very stick ever since.

Oh happy day!

Disappointment

I was so excited to go to church tonight. I would see Phil for the first time in months! And all the little kiddies, three cheers. So I drive over to the church, which is thankfully pretty close to my house, turn into the back parking lot, and not a single car is in sight. 'Oh no...' I turn down the alley to go to the front parking lot and again, not one car is parked in the lot. 'What?! I just chatted with Phil yesterday and said I'd see him at church today! He didn't say anything like, "There's no church tomorrow." ' Man! So I turn onto 3rd Avenue to head back home. I get home, tell mom and dad what was up, and flop down on the couch. We see a little later on a news scroll that all evening worship/activities for St. Paul's had been canceled. Oooooof course.

Sprummer

Even though it's already June, summer won't technically be here for another week and a half. So it's still spring. Which is fine with me. I think spring is my favorite season. Or maybe it's summer. I can never decide. Maybe I'll just go with this time of year... where it's not quite summer, but it certainly feels like it could be at times. Sprummer! You know what I love about spring, though? The time when everything is budding and blooming. You look out your window one day and see that all the trees are still bare and gray... but the next time you look out, seemingly the next day, everything is lush and green.

Faces

It's great to see those familiar faces around town. Whether they're at church, my high school, or around the neighborhood. I really love being home. And it's fun to surprise people who thought I wouldn't be home for the summer. !

Storms

It’s my first full day at home.
And I get a tornado siren.

Kevin Costner was wrong.
This really is heaven.

I love thunderstorms. I always have and I always will. There’s simply something about the rain pouring down, seeing the bright flashes of light and then hearing the tremendous booms of thunder that puts me at... peace.

Ogallala

Ogallala, which is a small town in Nebraska is, quite possibly, one of the most fun towns to say... ever.

Oooga-la-la.

Not Ogal-a-la.
Which is how our GPS pronounces it.

Either way, it's great.

God's Country

Whenever I travel, I like to take note of the changes in landscape, demographics, etc. I like the fact that our country is large enough to have at least somewhat unique aspects all around it. We've got the rainy forests of the northwest. The dry desert of the southwest. The temperate farmland of the midwest. The muggy hills of the southeast. The chilly seascape of the northeast. Of course there are the stereotypes [regarding people] that go with each area of the country. The Hippies. The Retirees. The Farmers. The Rednecks. The Elitists. Yep, it's a melting pot alright!

But our entire country has something to offer everybody in terms of beauty and happiness, no matter who they are. Each state is different in at least one way, and they are all beautiful in their own way. My mom had the television turned on to the show 'Deadly Catch' for just a couple minutes, but there was a clip showing a man telling about his dad being buried and the area was so beautiful; he called it God's country. I thought that was really interesting.

HOME

It's thirteen minutes past midnight, which means that it is now Thursday. By early evening my mom will have arrived from Iowa. By nightfall we'll have everything packed up. And tomorrow morning we will head towards Iowa. Beautiful, green, cornfield- and soybean-covered, slightly undulated, sometimes smelly IOWA. And I can't wait to get there. As much as I may have hated to admit it a month, a year, or eight years ago, it's home. Honestly, as much as I think I love the south (Alabama), I don't even remember it that much. I know, I'm pathetic. I lived there what, nine and a half years? Might as well have been nine and a half days. I couldn't tell you a whole lot. Start making memories when you're three years old? Yeah. Right. For me, more like ten years old.

Well anyway. I really am going to have a difficult time saying goodbye to some people here, but it'll be good to be back in Cedar Rapids and see my old friends and such.

An interesting little fact that I just realized: Today marks five months since I've seen my family. Hm.

Teddy

I sleep with a teddy bear.

His name?
Teddy.

Lame?
Quite.

Do I care?
Nope!

Lists

I've been making lists of things that I have to get done before I leave. I'm not really a 'list-person' though. I mean, I like to make them. But I don't do so enough to be considered as one of those people who lives life by to-do lists.

I've even started making a mental list of things that I want to do in the future, when I return to Cedar Rapids.

For example, in my last post I said that one of the first things I want to do when I get back to Cedar Rapids is mow our lawn. However, first things first:

Go to church on Sunday morning and surprise Tyler, Katie and Phil.
Then yes, mow the lawn, given that it hasn't been mowed too recently.
I can't wait to go to Bever and just hang out. Take a walk. Go swinging!
I also can't wait to run in the Bever woods. And on old cross-country routes.
I plan on getting a group to go to the Linn-Mar playground and play lava tag.
The Extreme Outdoor Game Club (founded by yours truly) will resume game-playing next week; a friend and I decided that we will start with Fugitives. We also want to start up a game of Assassins.

Oh. man. oh. man. oh. man. I just got even more excited to go home.

I'd also like to go eat lunch at Aladdin's. Yes, yes and yes!
I want to visit my friends who work at different Hy-Vees. Ha.
This is going to be the summer of the trampoline, I've decided. And it shall be glorious.
I want to go skywalking. Skywalks, for those of you who don't know, are enclosed hallways that are suspended over streets; they connect many of our buildings downtown. Yeah, I know. Totally awesome.
I want to read on our swing, porch and in my tree. That's right. I have a tree.
And a summer spent in Iowa wouldn't be a true summer without the ever-popular activity of cow-tipping.

Just kidding. : ) I've never been cow-tipping and I never plan on cow-tipping.

Grass

One of my favorite smells in the entire world is freshly cut grass.

I simply love it. I couldn't tell you why, it's just one of those things!

One of the first things I want to do when I get back to Cedar Rapids is mow our lawn.

There isn't enough grass in Salt Lake, I've decided. There's a whole lot of concrete, glass and steel, that's for sure. Ugh.

Bittersweet

I'm leaving Salt Lake on Friday.
I'll be in Cedar Rapids this summer.
Then I'll be attending Central Christian College of the Bible in Moberly, Missouri.

Pretty random, huh?

Not gonna lie: I'm more than stoked to be going home. And I can't wait to start at CCCB. But I'm going to miss Utah. Salt Lake. The U. My friends. It's been great. I'm already looking forward to coming back for visits and such. And I will do so. Cross my heart. Because I love this place and its people far too much to just leave it behind after a beautiful nine months. That's right, it's [only] been nine months. ... Seems like it's been a few years one minute, and a few days the next.