Here's a Hint - this one's continental.

1. Town that's famous for its Silver Mine, although people originally flocked here because of the prospect of gold.
2. In 1866, it was the fastest growing city in the region (although now it's just a tiny little town whose glory lives on only in memory).
3. There is a charming train that runs through town and also helps you to imagine what life was like there in the 1800s.
4. Going on mine tours ALWAYS makes me think of a short story that I read in college by Baldomero Lillo. It's called "Compuerta numero 12". You can find it translated to english on line and I HIGHLY recommend that you read it! It's only a couple of pages.

Enjoy the picture and guess any guesses as to where we were? This one was a little bit easier, but it's a practice for the future posts.

Stay Tuned!

So, what can I say or what should I say after disappearing for a few months and suddenly realizing in a moment of calm that summer is nearly as its end and that I'm in a new city; I'm looking for a new job; I've seen a million new sites; I'm making new friends and in a new ward with new roommates. Yes, where do I even start?

Well, as promised to many dear friends, I need to give an update on my adventures, so stay tuned for pictures and tales of laughter and occasionally tears as I learned about the world and the boy who I accompanied.

Singing in the Rain

Last night, it was a perfect temperature. It was overcast and with a light drizzle. So, seeing as how those are the perfect conditions to go running, I put on my running shoes and headed out - aiming for Liberty Park. I had my ipod strapped on my arm and the ear-buds in which blocks out any sound of the surrounding busy city streets.
I got to the park about 8 pm and it was completely deserted. I had the whole place to myself. And, can I tell you, it was WONDERFUL! The drizzle hitting the pond, the ducks and geese, the puddles, the bright green trees, and me. As I got to the park, "Out of My League" by Stephen Speaks was blasting through the my headphones. So, since every other part of the setting was perfect, I decided to sing along as well, so I went running by the pond, singing as loud as I could (in between breaths), and felt perfectly content for a few minutes.
I highly recommend finding your own place, where no one else exists except you and your dreams - no person, no cars, no sounds, except those that you allow to be there.

Somewhere over the rainbow

Somewhere over the rainbow, Way up high.
And the dreams that you dreamed of, Once in a lullaby.
Oh somewhere over the rainbow, Bluebirds fly.
And the dreams that you dreamed of, Really do come true.

Someday I'll wish upon a star.
Wake up where the clouds are far behind me.
Where trouble melts like lemon drops.
High above the chimney tops.
That's where you'll find me.

Oh, Someday I'll wish upon a star.
Wake up where the clouds are far behind me.
Where trouble melts like lemon drops.
High above the chimney tops.
That's where you'll find me.

Oh somewhere over the rainbow.
Way up high.
And the dreams that you dare to.
Why, oh why can't I?

Great motivational song. I'm going to dare to dream because it's the realization of dreams that brings happiness.
Check out this version of the song - love it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1bFr2SWP1I

Sing it with me: "All you need is .... [Nature]."

On Sunday, a friend and I drove through North Ogden Canyon to a quaint little city called Eden. I thought the name was very appropriate as I’m sure the Garden of Eden exhibited much of the same majesty, beauty, and tranquility that I saw in our present-day Eden.
Let me describe the scene.
My friend’s family has a mountain house in Eden, nestled along the bench of the mountain with a perfect view of the lush, green valley and the eastern mountains. In front of the house there is a stream that flows just quickly enough to create a soothing burble. There's a reservoir off in the distance. It is 8 o’clock. The sun is slowly starting to slide below the Western Mountains. The angle of the remaining light rays hits everything perfectly, highlighting the hues and the depth of each color. The valley is a deep green that only exists at the beginning of a Utah summer. The mountain behind the house is full of a variety of thick pines and leafy trees, not just the normal smattering.
Behind the eastern mountains, off in the distance, the summer storm clouds build. The few remaining rays pierce the clouds and accentuate their darkness. You can’t hear the thunder, but the lightning is abundant. As I sit by the stream and an accompanying pond, soaking in the beautiful scene in front of me, I am enveloped in a clement breeze. The warmth is the perfect contrast to the cooling air.
So, there I sit conversing with my friend.
Life was peaceful.
I didn’t want to leave.

Step in the Dark

My current position ends in September and as of right now, I don't have any other desired jobs waiting for me, but today, I still turned down a job offer.
My boss wants to keep me around and so she's willing to give me any position she can find at our organization. I am flattered by her continual efforts. However, as I sat pondering my opportunities, I came to feel that accepting that offered position would be equivalent to settling. The only reason I would take that job is because I'm scared that there may not be anything better. But, what kind of attitude is that? That's a defeatist attitude and I am not going to be defeated nor do I want to spend the next several years of my life at a job that is not stimulating. It does not have to be exciting everyday. In fact, I don't even think my dream job would be exciting every day. But yes, I do want it to require something of me and I want to be a valuable asset to the organization.
So, it's somewhat liberating to take that step in the dark. I am educated, hard-working, and willing. So, I turned it down expecting that there is some great option out there for me. I don't want to settle - at any level in life - so I figured that employment is a good place to start.
So, the job search begins again.

I dreamed a dream...

This dream comes and goes and COMES and goes and COMES and STAYS.
I want to have my own non-profit that works to reduce poverty and create sustainable development. All during college, I dreamed of going with Help International. I even applied for a position as a Country Director last Fall and had a really GREAT chance of getting the position for Summer 2010 - however, I turned them down because it just didn't seem like the right opportunity at the time. I don't regret turning them down because I know it was the right thing to do; however, I do still check on their site frequently and am fascinated by the work they do.
Then, there's SHe. I love them as well! In fact, I'm currently brainstorming how I could take their expedition to Nepal. I'm sure that would help me in my career! I could consider it an educational AND life investment.
But when it comes down to it, all of these little expeditions only make me MORE convinced that I need to get the ball rolling and work towards my own Non-Profit. I have brainstormed this many times and have scattered notes about plans and dreams and how we would help. I've thought of recruiting, fundraising, networking, and administrating options. I've considered lawyers that I know that might be willing to donate some time to the cause and make sure everything is legal. As I'm typing this, I just thought of some accountants that I'm sure would be willing to help as well.
I have a quote on my cubicle wall that I read about 100 times a day. It says, "There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible - the fear of failure." (The Alchemist by Paolo Coehlo) I can't really think of anything that terrible that would happen from trying this. Failure is only failure if you don't learn anything from it. The best thing that could happen would be that I am able to help someone have a better life, hope, and a future of opportunity. And every volunteer who got involved would be changed because volunteering and helping others CHANGES YOU. And, little be little, volunteer by volunteer we could have more love and service in this world. More smiling faces. I like that.
I don't really care about having a lot of money. I just need to be able to support myself. I would love to run this dream Non-Profit (which will one day have a name) as my job until I have other obligations and then have someone else manage it and I just volunteer and remain on the Board. Oh, and my little future children would be able to go on these little expeditions as well. Beautiful thought!
I wrote an email to my BFF earlier to convince her to partner up with me (after all, this is her dream as well and she's going to Grad School to do this VERY thing). As I was writing I was envisioning myself up in front of a large group and my task was to motivate them and get them pumped and participating, so the words, "Are you with me?!? I said, Are you with me?!?" were meant to be shouted (although not the kind of shout that would lose my followers such as this one, bless his heart)
Anyway, now the question is, am I willing to make this dream a reality?

V-Day

My beautiful Valentine's Day flowers! I would never ask for flowers or expect them, but let's admit, I'm a girl, and I loved getting them for Valentine's Day.
I felt very special and smile every time I look at them!

Dinner Date and Shopping

My mom and I have decided to start having a monthly mother-daughter date. We live so close so it only makes sense that we take some time each month to just spend an evening together.
I've thoroughly enjoyed our dates and I've found them to be rather enlightening! We've only had a few of these dates so far but on each date I've explained this strange quirk or personality trait that I have and how I'm so perplexed as to why that developed. Usually upon finishing the explanation, mom pipes in and informs me that I probably get that trait from her. These dates are helping me to realize how much of my mom I have in my own personality. It's fascinating! And, sometimes when they come to personality traits that I have that stress me out, it's helpful and calming to know that I'm not in fact crazy and the only person who thinks like I do. There is at least one other person who understands my point of view and feelings.
Moral of the story is - dates are good - even it's with my mom and not the boy.
Thanks!
P.S. I know Rumbi Island Grill is old news, but I just went there for the first time yesterday and it was FABULOUS! And, that is probably the best customer service I've ever received and I even think it was genuine.

Old Age

I've talked with Tim a lot about old age. We joke that the prime time to die is at the ripe old age of a tree (which is 88 I think). Old age means forgetfulness and fraility and loss of independence. But then you see a picture ot his guy pictured above. His name is Leonard McCracken and he's 106! I think he makes old age look divine. Think of all that he's learned and experienced in his life and the interesting stories that he could tell. He looks so jolly and probably by this point has really learned how to cherish and enjoy life. His picture makes me feel happy!

Look at this adorable little family. They are all between 80 and 96 - healthy, happy, and independent. Imagine having spent 90 years with your brothers and sisters. How amazing! If we think we can crack good jokes and get along well now after a measely (in my case) 26 years imagine adding another 60 onto that.

Just for the record I would love to be the photographer who took those pictures. I think they really captured the happiness of life.

A Salad that Soothes the Soul

I love SALADS, but I find myself getting bored of them. I find one that I love and I eat it until I can't stand the idea of eating it again. Perhaps I should bring more variety into my life. I really prefer to have just a salad for at least one meal a day, but in order to do that I'm going to need more ideas.
I went over to the bf's sister's house for dinner on Sunday and she made the most BEAUTIFUL and TASTY salad. Of course I went out and bought all of the needed produce and will have a nice, healthy lunch every day this week.
Here are the ingredients:
Red-Leaf Lettuce
Avocado (sliced)
Cilantro
Craisens
Cucumber
Green Onion
Orange Sweet Bell Pepper (I also used Yellow.)
Pecans (if you have them)
Poppyseed dressing (or any other dressing that is to your liking. They also had a ranch and some other vinagerette option, but I love poppyseed).
So if you're looking for a new salad to try out, give it a shot. You'll be glad you did, and to help me out, please tell me some of your favorite salads so when I get tired of this lovely one, I'll still have something to eat.
And Coming Soon...
Bread Recipe. The bread was a HUGE success. It got 5 stars :) I'll add the recipe soon. It was originally a recipe for 5 loaves but I don't have room to store ANY loaves, so I had one for me, one for BF, and a little baby loaf for fun.

The First Loaves

I am a PERFECTIONIST. That has ups and downs. The ups are that when I do something, I try to do it perfectly. The downs are that I often times stray from doing something unless I do it perfectly.
Today, I decided that it's time for me to make my own Wheat Bread. My mom makes the MOST amazing wheat bread and I have helped her enough that I felt it was time for me to try it on my own. I had the recipe and paid scrupulous attention to every step. I was also stressed at every step thinking - if I do something wrong, this will have be a lost 4 hours of my life. Ironically enough, I'm the one who used to teach my missionaries - it's only failure if you don't learn from it. Yes, Becky, how about applying that advice to yourself.
Anyway, I made the dough and thought it may still be a little too sticky, but I had done and already added more flour than the recipe called for so I gave it over to the RISING stage. After stage 1 of rising, I thought, umm...I don't think it raised enough. Concerned but too late to change it, I prepared it for stage 2 and put it in my new bread pans. Near the end of the second hour of raising, I still didn't think it raised enough and was convinced I'd have one solid block of cooked dough - something more like a brick than the deliciousness I was hoping to eat with my fresh strawberry jam.
I put it in the oven to bake, a little pessimistic, but this is what I saw about 20 minutes through...
They looked to be rising and browning perfectly. My hope was renewed. I anxiously checked them though the oven window every 5 minutes and at the end, this is what I got
2 beautiful loaves of bread and some strawberry jam. I have sampled a little bit of the bread and I'm pleased. I give myself a Blue Ribbon for my first attempt at bread. We'll see if the BF approves - if so, I'll call it a victory. Little perfectionist Becky can now continue on peacefully with Saturday - not feeling like a failure.

Newly Enrolled

I LOVE learning! I do, maybe I'm addicted. I want to learn everything and I frequently get frustrated by what I don't know. I should probably not be too harsh on myself after all I'm only ALMOST-26. But alas, I think of all of the things that I want to understand. It's amazing how much you learn in college only to realize when you graduate that you have only covered .000001 percent of things to learn.
I can't financially justify grad school right now so I've taken it upon myself to be my own professor. I have been checking out textbooks online and my heart pitterpats at the mere thought of my own textbooks full of knowledge. They will even be filled with thought questions, applications, and test preps :) My first course by Professor Becky will be American Government and Politics - all 700 pages of it.
I've come to realize at work - where a common topic of conversation is politics, congressmen, and how they will affect our funding - that I don't really know much about the political atmosphere in the United States and while I don't want to turn into a person who debates politics all day every day, I feel the need to be more aware. Luckily my text book will cover everything from the creation of the Constitution up to the recent issues that we face. I'm pretty excited!
Hopefully I get an A.
After that I think I'll pursue a Nutritional Course, maybe a History of Modern Music Course, and then ... okay the list really never ends. So, if anyone has any ideas of good books on nutrition or music, let me know! (Cheri, just sell me your text book when you're done.)
Alright, now that I'm all motivated to learn and know everything, I must go remind myself that "all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he hath strength. And, again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order."
For those of you like me who have a serious lack of patience with themselves, keep that in mind. Keep the goal to learn and know and do everything, just remember to enjoy doing it one day at a time.