Journals

I have written in journals very consistently since I was 9. My mother went to Utah on a trip and brought me back this beautiful white journal with a picture of a woman in a long flowing dress with long hair, a unicorn, a castle in the background, and a rainbow. This was right up my alley as a 9 year old. To make things better, it also had a lock that only I knew the code to.

I don't remember what it was about journaling at that age that so intrigued me, but I was hooked. I have filled up over 20 journals since that time, writing usually no longer than 2 or 3 days apart. I have written my heart over hundreds and hundreds of pages. As such, I consider myself a bit of a journaling expert, though I have to say that I'm certainly not a writing expert. Some of the journal entries are rather lame or poorly written, but that's okay by me. One doesn't have to be a good writer to be a good journaler.

I've decided to share a few of the things I've learned about the more practical side of journaling.

1. Pick a journal that you like. Lined, unlined, w/ a plain cover or a fancy one, on the computer? etc. I prefer journals with few pages because I can write through them faster and I tend to get bored with a certain one if I've written in it too long. Sometimes I like lines and other times I'd rather have the space to write however I want. (I'm really good at writing straight, though, so if this is a problem, you may want to go with lines).

2. Decide what/who your audience is. What is the greater purpose of this journal? This will guide how much self-censoring you’re comfortable with. My audience is often my journal. I call it “you.” Sometimes I am writing to myself. Sometimes I am writing to other people. You have the flexibility to write to whomever you want – and to switch it up whenever you want.

3. Find and be okay with your own journaling rhythm. Though I think that writing some what regularly has helped me the most in writing, there are times when this means writing once or twice a day and other times when it means writing once or twice every two weeks. If you want to set a goal about writing on a specific basis, make sure that your goal is reasonable and attainable. If you don’t write at all, it may be asking too much to start writing everyday. Or it may be just what you need. Try writing on a certain time schedule and see how it goes. Change it if you don’t like it. Mostly, you should write in your journal when you feel like it. Keep in mind that if you write more regularly, you most likely will want to write more regularly.

4. Don’t worry about following a thought or a story through. If you’re done with it, move on. Stop mid-sentence for all I care.

5. Don’t try to play catch up. If you haven’t written in a long time, it can be the kiss of death to try and recap everything that has happened since you last wrote, even the big things. If you must recap, keep it simple – a brief list will suffice. The reason to not recap too much is that you lose momentum. If you’re too busy writing about the past in your journal, you lose the time to write about the here and now, about the future, about things that you can still change.

6. Remember most of all: Journals are a safe place to explore, problem-solve, vent, clarify, explain, be creative, express yourself, learn, try on new thoughts and feelings, keep stories, be yourself, and to find yourself.

These are just suggestions. I write to share, not to prescribe. Your journal should be YOUR JOURNAL and thus can be whatever you want/need to it be.

A Resolution

Hello! We ARE alive and well. Just not good at updating our blog. This picture of us was taken in Park City when we were out in Utah for a friend's wedding. That's a fun story. I'll hopefully post about that sooner than later.

I am going to try and be better about blogging (I almost wrote clogging. That would be fun to be better at, too). But, no! Being a better blogger is my new resolution.

It has been a long time since we blogged and there is no possible way that I could catch you all up with the fabulous things that have been going on in our lives, so I won't bother. It's my creed with journal writing and now with blogging - no back-tracking! It just bogs you down.

That said, I may blog later about our trip to Europe this past summer and a few other trips just because we have pictures of those and I look pretty cute in some of them and, let's face it, who doesn't like to post good looking pictures of themselves on their own blogs. I mean, that's what blogs are for, right?

Here's what we're up to now: Today we're going to our annual ward clambake. I'm looking forward to it. Luke's still working in the consulting business and I am still collaging. I'm making steps toward building a website, which I'm excited about. I'll keep you posted on that front. Following are some pictures of more recently completed collage projects.

This one's called "Country Cat." It's 8"x10". A friend commissioned me to make a collage of a cat. I enjoyed the challenge as I had never done an animal before.

This collage is of the Alberta Temple in Cardston. I made it for my sister to give to her husband on their 9th anniversary.

My Playmobil Key Chain

I love this key chain. (sorry the picture's blurry). I was given this key chain (yes, a Native American Playmobil man) when I was first given the key to open Belmont Toys, the quaint toy store in Belmont Center. I worked there after my freshman year at BYU. It was a pretty fun job. On slow days, we would get to play with the toys. On most days, I was working at the cash register, stalking and re-stalking toys, and putting price tags on anything that came through the doors. At the end of the summer, I gave the key back to the store owner and he let me keep the key chain.

I have almost lost him - a few times. Once, he fell off after I had loaded some clothes in a washer at a laundromat and then gone for a run. I noticed half-way through my run that the pin in his head had fallen out. I had my keys, but no Playmobil man attached. I panicked, turned around and re-traced my steps. No sign of him. I assumed the worst: that he had been run over by a car. I found him in the washing machine.

Kids love this key chain. At church, if I'm ever watching some one's child, I'll pull him out and they just love him. Plus, he's easy to spot in a big purse. I love this key chain!

Easter Egg Party 2009

Last night, we held our annual Easter Egg Decorating party. Our guests, the Johnsons, the Butts, and the Brayleys, really brought their A games and decorated some awesome eggs. You'd be hard pressed to find any better decorated eggs. Thanks to our friends for bringing their extreme creativity. Below are some pictures.

Here are the colorful eggs. Can you find: a bunny egg, a little skiing egg, a dinosaur egg, a family of frog eggs, a beach girl egg, a peacock, a fuzzy face, a circus elephant, Sponge Bob, superman? 'Cause they are sure there.


Here's a better view of the superman egg made by Jared Butts.
A better view of some of the Brayley's eggs: a baby egg named Spunk, a pot of flowers, and a funky chicken to point out a few.


Here's a close up of Jeremy Johnson's Frog family.
This year I went with a circus theme (yes, thanks to Brittany Spears) and made a ring master, a lion, a baby elephant, and a trapeze artist. I am rather proud of them. They took a long time. Luke's eggs: a pirate in a boat and a furry face with a fez egg. Thr craft fur was an awesome idea.

We didn't get many more close ups that turned out well enough to post, so if we didn't post a close up of your egg, please don't be offended. It's not that we didn't like your egg.

It's been a while...

Gee whiz! We haven't posted in a while. A lot has happened since our trip to Mexico for Thanksgiving. Let's see, here's a brief sum up: 

- we had Christmas at my parents' house in the Boston area

- we had New Years at Luke's parents' house near Portland, OR

- my younger sister, Heather, entered the Missionary Training Center last week and I went out with my parents to see her off

- it's been a very snowy winter

That's about it - without going into any details, I realize. I'll hopefully post more often and with more interesting thing, but just wanted any one who reads this blog to know that we're both alive and well. 

Salsa-ing

Per the post below, Luke and I went to this Salsa and Salsa activity where we got to learn how to make salsa and then how to dance the salsa. We really had a great time together - especially when I wasn't being too bossy.

Luke mooshing some guacamole. 

Me mooshing some salsa verde. 

Luke helping to demonstrate how to make a virgin margarita. 

Mexican Thanksgiving

I'm sorry it has taken so long to blog about our trip to Mexico for Thanksgiving. It was a great family reunion, actually, with the entire and Gordon and Laurie Low clan: all my siblings, their spouses, and my nieces and nephews, too. The weather was absolutely perfect and I've been sad to be back in Boston where it's been super cold. Also, I'd like to say that I actually got a bit of a tan - without even trying. And, here's the best part, I didn't get burnt at all. It was truly a Thanksgiving Mircale.

Our daily activities while in Mazatlan (on the west coast of Mexico) involved going to the beach, or the pool, or both; playing games like speed Scrabble and Settlars of Catan (a first time for me); preparing and eating yummy Mexican dishes; taking long walks along the beach; enjoying the sunsets; and generally enjoying each others company. We also watched all three extended versions of The Lord of the Rings movies 'cause lets face it, it's not quite a Low vacation without excessive amounts of LOTR. I'd like to say that Luke, Morgan (bro in-law) and I made up the LOTR fellowship, as it were, since we were the only three to watch them in full.

A picture of some of us on, as Beth my sister, called it, "our daily constitutional" i.e our daily walk. Mom and Beth are in the foreground, Heather is way up ahead. I was taking the picture. 

Another very exciting part of our vacation is that my younger sister, Heather, got her mission call. I'm not sure if it's exactly public knowledge yet, so I won't post where she's going. She can do that herself. Luke and I are thrilled for her and are postive that she will be a fantastic missionary.

One morning, Luke and I went to this Salsa and Salsa thing where we learned how to make all kinds of different salsas and then learned to dance the salsa. We had a really great time. Here we are with our chef hats and aprons.

I have a few more pictures, but for some reason, it's not letting me post them. I'll try later.