We had a wonderful trip to Vegas for Thanksgiving. It is always nice to visit with Codys family. There was quite a group for Thanksgiving itself, my sister in law Trina had her mom, dad, brother, and grandparents in town. Jaydan and Hope became quite good pals this trip. Hope is such a sweet and attentive girl. Toddlers always flock to her. Abby, myself, Trina, and her brother ran a 5K Thanksgiving morning. It was my first race and I am proud to have finished.
Now trying to get ready for Christmas is proving a challenge. The tree is up, I let Hope do the whole thing with a little help from Abby. I am trying to put on a happy face for Hope. She is so excited and loves Christmas. I find the tears are very close to the surface (which is odd for me since I am not really a cryer). I have a bit of a head cold and money is not tight but nonexistant, so none of this is helping with this Holiday season. I will not feel sorry for myself. I will enjoy my sweet girls and listen to some Christmas music without crying.
I love my family and am so grateful for the joy and love that Cody, Abby, and Hope bring to my life.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Saturday, November 12, 2011
It has been over two years since I posted last, but I feel inspired to share today. I am so happy to have such a great family! I could not be more proud of Cody, Abby, and Hope. Cody is finishing his associate degree, focusing on computer networking and just landed his first entry level position. I am so proud of how he has embraced this challenge and all the changes he has made over the past couple years.
Abby is practically grown now. A sophomore at Hill crest High School. On the honor roll and busy with 12 hour rehearsals for the musical next week. I am grateful for all our laughs and singing our hearts out in the car!
Hope is the bright spot in my days. She says something every day that makes me laugh. She has taken up the flute this year and is getting quite good at it. She is in her second year of Spanish immersion and is doing well. She also dances and plays soccer. She is quite a busy girl!
Now me. Well I am still at LDS ICU. While I HATE my schedule, flipping from days to nights, I LOVE my job. I enjoy my co workers and have made true and lasting friendships. I really love what I do. I am lucky to have found this satisfaction with the first job of my nursing career. I have recently started exercising. I started a weight lifting class twice a week that I really enjoyed. I lost about 18 pounds and was feeling great. I have now caught the running bug. I am running my first 5K on Thanksgiving. I am excited and a little scared. I have found an inner peace over the last few years. I am finally comfortable in my own skin. I no longer feel like I need to search for a different life. I don't regret the past and honestly I know if one thing changed I would not be me....and I like me.
With all the negativity out there in blogs and on face book, I just felt inspired to share that to me life is good. There is always room for improvement and I will always strive to do better, but today I am content and happy with my life.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Fun day getaway to Silver Lake
Cody has become a little obsessed with fishing so this summer we went up to silver lake. The girls and I enjoyed taking pics while dad fished
Friday, September 4, 2009
I dont really know where to begin on updating this blog. I am sincerly going to make an effort to keep up with it better. This week in the McCallister household. Girls are very busy with school. Abby is taking honors english and history along with spanish and concert choir. She continues to dance but is struggling with a bunyon on her foot. She is looking forward to the appointment with the podiatrist this coming Tuesday. Hope is getting into the swing fof second grade. She is a little bored with the spanish portion of her day but its hard when you have Mrs. Malan to compare it to. She is really becomming quite the soccer player and is enjoying dance. Cody is still looking for work thereby I am picking up premiums left and right. I know he will find the right job and I feel bad knowing how frustrating looking for work can be. I am also back to school, I am taking Math 1010 and cultural reading (which counts for my diversity and humanities credit) next semester I have stats and micro and then I am off to either Weber or the U for my Bachelors.
Abby got a new dog for her birthday. Her name is Luna and she is an American Eskimo.
As always life is busy!
Abby got a new dog for her birthday. Her name is Luna and she is an American Eskimo.
As always life is busy!
Monday, August 31, 2009
I am back...read and give feedback please
So I know I took a little hiatis from blogging, but I hope I am back! I am taking a class called reading culture and my first assignment was to write a paper about a cultural attribute. I chose to tackle polygamist dress and hairstyle. I would love to hear what you think!
Have you ever walked into a Cosco and found yourself wondering if you had possibly time traveled to the days of the pioneer. Wondering up and down the isles are women dressed in long dresses highlighted with sneakers for footwear, girls in these long dresses seem to have the desire to put on a pair of jeans underneath. The boys all look a little robotic with their slicked hair, button down shirt, and jeans. Now, while this is all quite a spectacle to behold the real eye catcher is the hair, yes I said it, the hair. Wow, I wonder to myself, how in the world someone can get their hair to look like that. It is almost like a piece of art on top of someones head.
Questions about this hairstyle most certainly have all been asked and there have been many answers. Why, is usually the first question. With the recent raid on the FLDS church compound in Texas, some former members have been able to shed a little light on our questions. Carolyn Jessop is an escapee of the FLDS compound. When asked about the hairstyles and dress she simply answered, it was one of the only forms of self expression for these women. She stated that the restrictions on their dress are so harsh that there is simply one pattern and a handful of plain pastel colors that can be used. She also stated that the women are required to wear their hair up as a loose hairstyle can be used to sexually entice a man. Therefore, we in the public see long, intricately braided hair with what I term “locker bangs gone bad” in the news.
I almost buy into this concept of self expression, except I am still questioning if it is self expression, then where is the individuality of the style. Maybe these are the true step ford wives. Obedient, hard working and they all look the same.
Another escapee spoke of the style being a way to segregate the women from the outside world. She stated it was so outside of their teachings to even wear a short sleeved shirt that as children when they saw someone doing that they would call them wicked. This young lady stated she was allowed to attend college but felt completely segregated by the mainstream population because of the restrictions placed on her dress and hairstyle.
It appears that this style, or lack of, intends to promote morality, modesty, and chastity. I do think, however, that this style is being imposed on these women by men. These men appear to be domineering and power hunger. The women are told to submit and please the man and one way to do this is to conform to the dress code. However, it sounds like these women, because of human nature, want to express themselves and their individuality and these high, coiffed hairstyles are a reflection of that desire.
While these styles are more reflective of the 1980’s than of the 1890’s. The puffy sleeves and shoulder pads with hair that looks a little to similar to “locker bangs”. It is clear that this style has engaged many outsiders to this community. It has provided a context in which to begin a dialog regarding this subgroup within America. I feel sorry for these women to live a life of so few personal choices. If the only choice they feel they are given is how to style their bangs, I guess I can just admire it from afar.
Have you ever walked into a Cosco and found yourself wondering if you had possibly time traveled to the days of the pioneer. Wondering up and down the isles are women dressed in long dresses highlighted with sneakers for footwear, girls in these long dresses seem to have the desire to put on a pair of jeans underneath. The boys all look a little robotic with their slicked hair, button down shirt, and jeans. Now, while this is all quite a spectacle to behold the real eye catcher is the hair, yes I said it, the hair. Wow, I wonder to myself, how in the world someone can get their hair to look like that. It is almost like a piece of art on top of someones head.
Questions about this hairstyle most certainly have all been asked and there have been many answers. Why, is usually the first question. With the recent raid on the FLDS church compound in Texas, some former members have been able to shed a little light on our questions. Carolyn Jessop is an escapee of the FLDS compound. When asked about the hairstyles and dress she simply answered, it was one of the only forms of self expression for these women. She stated that the restrictions on their dress are so harsh that there is simply one pattern and a handful of plain pastel colors that can be used. She also stated that the women are required to wear their hair up as a loose hairstyle can be used to sexually entice a man. Therefore, we in the public see long, intricately braided hair with what I term “locker bangs gone bad” in the news.
I almost buy into this concept of self expression, except I am still questioning if it is self expression, then where is the individuality of the style. Maybe these are the true step ford wives. Obedient, hard working and they all look the same.
Another escapee spoke of the style being a way to segregate the women from the outside world. She stated it was so outside of their teachings to even wear a short sleeved shirt that as children when they saw someone doing that they would call them wicked. This young lady stated she was allowed to attend college but felt completely segregated by the mainstream population because of the restrictions placed on her dress and hairstyle.
It appears that this style, or lack of, intends to promote morality, modesty, and chastity. I do think, however, that this style is being imposed on these women by men. These men appear to be domineering and power hunger. The women are told to submit and please the man and one way to do this is to conform to the dress code. However, it sounds like these women, because of human nature, want to express themselves and their individuality and these high, coiffed hairstyles are a reflection of that desire.
While these styles are more reflective of the 1980’s than of the 1890’s. The puffy sleeves and shoulder pads with hair that looks a little to similar to “locker bangs”. It is clear that this style has engaged many outsiders to this community. It has provided a context in which to begin a dialog regarding this subgroup within America. I feel sorry for these women to live a life of so few personal choices. If the only choice they feel they are given is how to style their bangs, I guess I can just admire it from afar.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
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