Winter Snow

Loving this song right now:

Performed by Audrey Assad
Written by Chris Tomlin:

Could've come like a mighty storm 

With all the strength of a hurricane 

You could've come like a forest fire 

With the power of heaven in Your flame 

But You came like a winter snow 

Quiet and soft and slow 

Falling from the sky in the night 

To the earth below 

You could've swept in like a tidal wave 

Or an ocean to ravish our hearts 

You could have come through like a roaring flood 

To wipe away the things we've scarred 

But You came like a winter snow 

(Yes, You did) 

You were quiet 

You were soft and slow 

Falling from the sky in the night 

To the earth below 

Oh, no, Your voice wasn't in a bush burning 

No, Your voice wasn't in a rushing wind 

It was still 

It was small 

It was hidden 

You came like a winter snow 

Quiet and soft and slow 

Falling from the sky in the night 

To the earth below 

Falling 

(Oh, yeah) 

To the earth below 

You came falling 

From the sky in the night 

To the earth below

Wintervention

Well friends, it isn't officially ski season until Warren Miller comes to town! And the Warren Miller film will be in Salt Lake City this weekend! 



Going to a screening of these films each year is an awesome tradition to bring in the ski season! Each viewing gives away tons of free stuff from local vendors. Last year we got two free tickets to ski the Canyons (along with EVERY SINGLE OTHER PERSON who forked out the $20 bucks for tickets) and the year before we got a t-shirt. It's fun to be surrounded by winter-lovin' people. You'd think there was a dress code with everyone sporting their down sweaters and approach shoes - ha! Because we had a super-fun anniversary celebration this last weekend, we will be sitting this one out this year. But we'll be checking out previous years' Miller films on Netflix to get the excitement going around here.

Don't miss it! 

Find a show near you

Genuine H2O

I have a soap box that is just for bottled water and I've been debating what to do with it today. I think that this video might do an adequate enough job.

I recently bought a PUR water filter pitcher at my thrift store for $2 because Salt Lake City water tastes gross - I even spit it out of my mouth in the shower - blech. Getting a water filter and reusable bottles is pretty cheap.

If you must buy plastic containers think buying in bulk. Like buying large 3 gallon container of water to refill your water bottle instead of purchasing a rack of 30 individual bottles. Buy the larger tub of yogurt instead of the little single-serving packets - that kind of thing. When Landon's parents came to visit last fall i bought a couple huge jugs of water for my mother-in-law. She drinks only water and has a pretty specific palate for it. We are still using those jugs. It is smart to have a huge jug of water in your car in case you ever get stranded somewhere (especially in the winter). And we take them with us on road trips and camping trips.

Finding another use for a container is ALWAYS better than recycling. Reuse, reuse, reuse!

A little mid-week treat

Well friends, I am taking a little break for the next week.

So I decided to leave you with a little bit of me. Something that maybe you can enjoy more than once, since this will be here on the top of my blog for an entire week. I don't know how to do video editing, so....it's a tiny bit funny. Please enjoy.

For more videos of us doin' what we do, click "Doons' youtube channel" on the right. I hope your weekend is full of a little adventure and some relaxation. I know mine will be!

Catch you on the flip side.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

I'm very excited about this:

A little Friday treat:

I've never recorded a video of myself  playing piano before.  But I needed to send something to that church that I'm applying to, so I made myself subject to the techie advice of a few 13 year old boys and somehow got my skype camera to take a video of me and even upload it onto Landon's youtube channel. So it's not great quality, but it was sufficient in giving the pastor of the wonderful church an idea of my playing/singing capabilities.

He has asked me to come down to his church and lead worship some week in May as part of my application process for this worship position. I am excited. I love worshiping with new people - it's amazing - the unity in the body of Christ in worship.

So for those of you, dear friends and family that have not really heard me sing, this is for you. Though I share it sort of reluctantly, I have been encouraged as Landon blasted video of me on his facebook and his friends actually liked it. I felt bad for not sharing a video with my friends too. So, sorry for feeling self-conscious in front of you - you are always such a great support!

Enjoy, lovelies.

Banff

For the last two evenings, Landon and I have spent a few hours in the University of Utah theatre.

The Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour is in Salt Lake City!!!

Each night we got to watch about 8 videos varying from 4 - 50 minutes long. All of the movies were about mountain sports. All movies were beautifully done and the sports were amazing. From skiing to rock climbing, to kayaking, paragliding, extreme mountain biking, nordic skiing, and others. All executed and enjoyed in beautiful mountains, rivers and oceans across the world. It was amazing. And inexpensive - much cheaper than the Warren Miller films (well, Landon got in for free since he is a student, but it was only $7 for me).

Maybe see if there are any screenings in your town. It would definitely be worth it to attend at least one night's screening.

Ski weekend with Pooks

We have had an amazing President's Day weekend! Pooks (Landon's cousin-brother) came to visit us this weekend to enjoy some amazing Utah powder! Sadly, his home in North Carolina had more snow than our house did this weekend, ha! But the mountain was awesome. Two days of powder and one blue-bird day made for some very wonderful skiing.

If you care, check out the videos:

Pooks on some black groomers. This is actually the run that was the womens downhill race in the 2002 Olympics here in Utah. You can see that we were socked inside of a snow cloud for much of the day, so the visibility is sketchy. But this gives you a good idea of what a day is like when Pooks and Doons get together. Not too easy to tell, but they are going pretty dang fast.


Pooks and Doons were in constant search of untouched powder through the trees. The next 3 videos are through some nice powder that Preston chose for the video venue.


Landon making some beautiful tele-turns in the "pow"...followed by me falling.


And we even got a video of me. I was reading through our skiing magazine about how to ski through powder. One of the things it says is that you are supposed to have a stance like a boxer, not like you are sitting on the toilet. I definitely look like i have the toilet stance in this video.


Landon just left to take Pooks to the airport and I'm sitting down to get into my work week. It was AMAZING to have Preston here at our house. We don't get to see him too often and we love him dearly. Sad to see him go, but we definitely had a blast this weekend!

Food, Inc.

Yesterday was a proud day for me. My sister called me and told me that she has chosen to eat free-range. She told me that she watched Food, Inc. and though she was only half way through, she decided that she needed to take responsibility to buy ethically grown food. I was so grateful to hear that someone outside of our house would be compelled to live this way.

"But...", she said, "I'm afraid to dissect a chicken." Ha!

No fear, my dear, free-range chicken comes in breasts just like dirty chicken. You just have to pay for it!

Food, Inc.

Think about sustainable living. 

Think about responsible consumption. 

Think about stewardship of the earth; of its creatures. 

Think about our responsibility to our own health and the health of our family.

Yet again, I will remind you that I have an awesome tab on the sidebar of my blog brought to you by the "Eat Well Guide". Enter your zip code and they will provide local places for you to purchase your happy foods. 

No Impact

Landon suggested that I write a post today about the movie we rented yesterday, "No Impact Man"

This movie is about Colin Beavan, a regular Joe who decided to conduct an experiment. They ask the question: can you truly live your life making zero negative impact on the environment and still live a happy, good quality life? This is a documentary that is very interesting and funny and wonderful (read: not boring and definitely worth 90 minutes of your time) and it follows Colin and his family for an entire year as they conduct this experiment in their lives. That means: only eating locally grown food (IN NEW YORK CITY!!), no toilet paper, no electricity, producing ZERO trash, not using harsh chemicals (like cleaning supplies), no carbon producing transportation, etc...

I found this video on the Free Range Studios' website (they brought you the story of stuff and the meatrix) and instantly added it to my Netflix queue.

So I am not putting this on my blog to encourage you to ban toilet paper and electricity in your home and "go vegan"! I do admire this family for what they did: they were so extreme in their experiment that it caused people to notice and reevaluate their own lifestyles. Landon and I even sat down afterward and asked each other a few questions about how we could do better to live a lower impact lifestyle. I encourage you to just watch the film - it's inspiring and it's awesome!

And in that same spirit, check out Simple Mom's blog post today: 9 Ways to Encourage Your Kids to Live Simply. Anna, my wonderful sister-in-law is an amazing example of this kind of parent. Be inspired!

Blood:water Mission from Project 7 on Vimeo.

Yeah, I know i've put one (or two or three?) or their videos on there before. But I just wanted to make sure that you are paying attention.

And this video is the best I've seen so far.

Maybe vote for them?

Ski Snowbasin - from Landon's point of view

just a video that Landon took of our time skiing this weekend. BEAUTIFUL views of the Utah Mountains. A little shaky, but this was Landon's first day using his new helmet cam. Enjoy...it's a bit long, at least get the beginning for the beautiful views!

Russell Crowe movie marathon

Last week we unconsciously rented three Russell Crowe movies in a row from netflix.

A Beautiful Mind

The Insider

Mystery, Alaska

Good movies. Good actor. I especially love Mystery, Alaska. Those movies that take place in beautiful mountains always make me want to just give in and get rid of everything except my sleeping bag and snow shoes and finally embrace the wild mountain woman inside of me that sometimes is really difficult to deafen. If you haven't seen this movie, you really should. There is wonderful scenery, it's hilarious, and heart warming in a Rudy sort of way.  Here's the trailer:

Truth

Some conversations with JP and Anna this last weekend have me thinking about my Christianity. I don't really even like calling it that. I am committed to pursuing truth. I want to know and represent God. And I'm not really sure that the line between truth and love is really that defined. I think if the TRUTH that I know is Jesus Christ, then love follows - it is not a choice between the two.

Is there really a line? Truth is important. In seeking truth, i have found Christ. And in Christ is Love love love.

In this video, Mr. Religious scares me. He's funny, but he is also a good representation of me sometimes. I hope i can be more like Authentic. I hope I can follow the example of Christ in every little thing, and not be quick to pass judgement or make a statement.

Living Spring Christian Fellowship has put together a whole series of similar videos. They're pretty awesome. Check them out.

"The Scripture of Nature": our National Parks

(photo by Patrick Smith)

Utah has more National Parks than any other state in the lower 49. (although the picture above is of Yosemite National Park in CA - not sure why I chose that pictures besides the fact that it's breathtaking) I love the idea of National Parks and I am proud that past leaders in our country took the initiative to preserve the beautiful places. I have only been able to watch a snippet of this video since it's a work day, but so far it is really awesome. Will have to watch the rest tonight. Maybe you'll like it too.

check out this video:
 National Parks: America's Best Idea

took the plunge

Netflix

thanks to Anna and Sara, I'm beginning my two week trial today. I had so much fun looking through the huge selection of movies last night. I think we have about 20 on our list. And i was even more thrilled when i discovered that i didn't have to wait for the mail AT ALL for a few of the selections - they were available to watch immediately on my PC. Awesome. So we watched the first 30 minutes of this amazing documentary, Born into Brothels. If you haven't yet seen it, see it.

p.s. happy fall!

for those of you in GA, keep dry! be safe!

for those of you in CO, enjoy the snow!

those of us here in Utah are enjoying the chilly morning and the sunshine!

Canoeing the Platte

Dad and Doons.

I've seen this video twice in the last 6 months. both times it's made me cry.

In a couple of your blogs you have mentioned "art" and creating lately and i have been inspired.

Art has always been tricky for me. I've always been creatively minded but so afraid of pride but also of ridicule that i have shyed away at mastering much of anything and i fear that i am really thwarting gifts that God has entrusted to me. don't really want to get too into that right now. ha.

well, this movie has nothing to do with that. it's just inspiring and moves me greatly.

Today: the coldest day in more than a decade

is what is expected for Chicago. Wind chills of up to -40 degrees. and i have the day off of starbucks. i don't have to go anywhere except here. and i feel like it's about stinkin' time and i'm so glad that i got to sleep in today. (YAYAY!)

(my mom sent this video to me a few years ago and i have thought of it on several occasions these last few days - hilarious 40 second video)

Duvick is an "outside" dog, as you know. but when weather gets cold like this, he's on a rotation: 30 minutes outside at a time and then long enough time inside for him to de-thaw, which probably should only be 30 minutes, but a lot of times i forget about him and just let him sit here until he starts licking my hands or wining at the bedroom door wanting landon to wake up (of which he is currently doing). As long as he's sweet and not annoying he usually gets some good time in the house. but that reminds me that it's about time to let him back out.

Even Landon said that yesterday if you would have let your skin be exposed to the air for 10 minutes you could have gotten frost-bite. sheesh! it has snowed most every day this last week and has been very windy these last few days. and i like it. i like winter weather. i don't like it when the weather is sissy - give me snow and give it to me in heaps and enough wind for a white-out. if it's going to snow, then let it SNOW!

I've been trying to find the audio for this segment for days and i never thought to look on youtube. My friend Lindsay posted this a few days ago on her wonderful blog. I just LOVE it. Thanks Lindsay!