Bibbidi, Bobbidi, Boo

That whole going to sleep thing is not working for me tonight. It might have something to do with the fact that I woke up at 11 am. Yikes. It was completely not planned, I assure you.

My current lack of sleepiness might also have something to do with things I have running through my mind at full speed.

In order to relax and pass the time in a way other then staring at a dark wall I decided to watch Cinderella.

This movie, right here.

I adore the classic animated Disney movies. (who doesn't though?) It is so hard for me to pick a favorite. I stress over it. I toss and turn. I just can not. Usually I say my favorite is Beauty and the Beast because, face it people, that movie is amazing. However, it is my favorite by the teeniest-tiniest sliver. Most of the other movies follow after that in 2nd place and 3rd place categories.

We all have movies that make us feel nostalgic and have a calming sense of familiarity about them. We remember watching them on VHS. We remember acting them out maybe? We remember asking our parents to watch it over and over? You know what I'm talking about, right? For me, one of those movies is Cinderella.

My Mom has told me this and I have read it in her journal she kept when I was around 2 years old. Apparently, I loved to pretend to be Cinderella. I would wake up and say, "Come on, get up you say. Time to start another day!" Cute, right? I think it just shows how early I loved watching this movie.

I do not know how many times I have watched this movie over time...it is a lot... I went a while without watching it. When I watched it after that long absence (only a couple years) I was surprised at how familiar it was! Especially the opening when the gold book opens to begin the story. It makes me smile. It makes me feel carefree. It makes me feel like no matter how bad things are, little mice and birds and a fairy godmother will help me...

(Just kidding about that last part.)

Cinderella is such a wonderful classic fairytale. I love the story itself. I could get even deeper and analytical about why and what not..but I think I have rambled on enough.

Here are a couple more Cinderella related pictures for your enjoyment:

Halloween 2006. I dressed as Cinderella. One of my all time favorite Halloween costumes. I am holding a figurine of Gus Gus. I love him. (PS. I got that dress at a thrift store. It was awesome.)

Honeymoon to Disneyland in 2007. She asked if I had found my Prince Charming (about Danny).I told her I had. I might have giggled too.

Actually, I think that last picture was taken in California Adventure...I don't remember for sure.

For the record:
Danny is doing well. He likes his job. He likes Texas. He loves me. He thinks our turtle is anti-social.

I am doing well. I like Danny's job. I like Texas. I love Danny. I think our turtle merely tolerates Danny and me.

Visiting Utah

A couple of weeks ago Danny and I went to Utah specifically to eat at this delicious place called JDawgs. His family met us there. Wasn't that nice of them? We had a pleasant and yummy lunch, then went on our separate ways.

See, here we are at JDawgs. You should eat there. Everyone should eat there. The Polish dog with the sauce is what dreams are made of.

Okay, okay. So maybe we did a few other things besides eat polish dogs for lunch.

Danny graduated. Did you know that? Really he has been officially graduated since December but we went back to BYU for the pomp (and circumstance) of it all.

The Bakker family came up from California. It was terrific to see them again. I am so happy they could be there to cheer for Danny with me.

Here we are surrounding Danny! We are all so proud of him!

Danny's dad had never been to Cabela's. It is definitely a place to go. There are fun things and and animals to look at.

The Bakker 'kids' in front of Cabela's. I adore my sibling-in-laws.

On Thursday, to kill time before the University wide Commencement, we went to the Bean Museum. It is full of stuffed (taxidermied?) animals. They are fun to look at. There is one animal, in particular, that I enjoy. Her name is Shasta. She is a Liger.

Tigers are one of my favorite animals. I guess that interest transferred to Ligers. They are half tiger after all. And they are "bred for their skills in magic". Do you remember the movie Napolean Dynamite? I have no interest in watching it ever again, but I do still love that part. Napolean says that Ligers are his favorite animals because they were bred for their skills in magic.


We had a great time in Utah. Danny and I enjoyed seeing our dear friends again. We also enjoyed seeing my Utah family again. I really loved being able to get to know them better while I was at school. Danny and I spent a good amount of time with them while we lived in Utah. For that, I am grateful.

Visiting Utah was wonderful. The best part was, we were only VISITING. It was refreshing to visit Utah instead of visiting Texas and returning to Utah.

So, now we are back in Texas and back to our happy little lives.