Burgers and Fries

It was simple and good back then. The simple things of life... Does that sound familiar? Is there anything left in life that is simple? There is if you can get away from life. Take an old dirt road, a picnic lunch, and a good book. Now lay out a blanket by some trees or a river and look at the clouds. What do you see? A dog, a car, a dragon?... Close your eyes and allow yourself to daydream.

Dream about your wishes, your desires in life. Make them come true for you and no one else. Give yourself room to breath, time to think, so you don't lose yourself. "These simple things will build your inner soul." Take this time to truly be you, to breath in and out and look back on your life. Have you found yourself yet?...

LIFE

It's gonna be ok.

It's really not that bad.

You're gonna pull through,

Doesn't have to be so sad.

Trials come,

Trials go.

Some one's always with you.

Don't you know?

Put your chin up,

Hold your head up high.

Don't let a minute

Pass you by.

Don't forget

To Live your life,

Love your best,

Laugh off your strife.

And at the end

You'll see it's true.

Every minute was worth it

Because you found YOU.

~By Codi Madsen

Down South

Have you noticed anytime you are about to go on vacation life gets pretty hard before you leave? Actually, it can be pure crap! Hence, the picture to the right of the double decker outhouse. Think about how it works for a minute. Pretty crappy huh?!

Anyways, then vacation comes and goes too fast and then you have to go back to reality all over again. So enjoy your vacation to the fullest and appreciate the small things in life... What are some of the small things you ask, where do you find some much needed peace? Well... Enjoy going to the bar and ordering a sarsaparilla, finding out what a "cairn" is, a sunset, a shadow, or an amazing wonder of the world. There's one place I can go to find peace. Going down South on a highway very special to me and my best friend.

Ode to the South

Ode to that Southbound highway,

Racing down the road.

Never looking back,

Keeping our troubles at bay.

Always going too far

Through mountain and desert,

Canyon and stream,

Or following some distant star.

By daring Angels Landing,

Harrowing a horse ride in Bryce,

Finding the Garden of Eatin',

And yet, we two, are left standing.

So do we find what we seek?

Searching through aspen and pine,

Slick and red rock,

A top a snow capped peak?

So to find your soul, your inner peace,

Head for that long stretch of highway

Down South,

And wonders will never cease.

Ode to the South...

By: Codi Lyn Madsen

Moving on

Definition of move:

1) To change in position from one point to another

2) To settle in a new place

3) To take some action

4) To affect deeply

Life is about movement. Nothing is constant, nothing stays the same. We are always changing, never ceasing to stop.

Take a waterfall for example. The water is always moving, never staying in the same place. It is always in a state of change, but that's what makes it so beautiful. Would the beauty of the waterfall change if it was frozen in time? Never moving, never feeling the mist upon my face, or hearing the rushing roar of the falls? Never seeing the ripples move through time, going on and on into my soul?

Change is inevitable. It will happen. It's happening right now. Change might take me to another place, force me to take some action, or it might just affect me deeply. Change will affect and alter me. It will force me to move on. To move on where I might ask? That's all up to me.

Moving on is hard on everyone. It affects so many aspects of our lives emotionally, physically, and spiritually. I have a hard time moving on. I do not deal with change well on the inside, but I hide it on the outside. Moving on in life, to a new job, a new place, and especially moving on from people in life. Saying goodbye to the old and pushing myself to find the new. Now is the time for change, now is the time for me to move on...

When it rains, it pours

Anyone who is from Oregon, I apologize now. I went to Oregon this week for a work conference and played tourist for the last end of the week. The conference went better than expected because I learned a lot of things I should be doing and how to do them. Later, my sisters joined me for the weekend to play tourist. I learned how really sheltered I was...
In Oregon there are bars, pubs, taverns, drinking establishments, strip clubs, or whatever you want to call them, everywhere. Alcoholic beverages are offered wherever you go and in whatever you order. I wanted to order ice cream, simple dessert right? Not. There was alcohol in the desserts too. The waitress looked at me like I was crazy when I asked for plain old ice cream, no alcohol please.
Also, people getting drunk and wasted. So not funny. I was the designated driver because I was the Mormon. I learned that shots have more alcohol than tall glasses of beer and that beer can also be green (St. Patrick's Day). People become very stupid when consuming alcohol. They remember nothing in the morning, pretty scary. They can't even walk straight. They also wonder why they have a hangover the next morning. I had to give away most of the Tylenol I brought to those who were stupid enough to consume that much.
Driving in Oregon I learned 1)never stop for long periods of time or someone will knock on your window and offer you something, 2)never go out after dark, 3)if you want to get on or off the highway, good luck, they don't believe in having on and off ramps in the same places, 4)there are rarely street signs, getting lost should be common, and 5)people in Oregon drive slow, no matter the speed limit.
Last but not least, when it rains, it pours. Seriously... It rains all of the time. You'll get blue sky for maybe an hour or two a day, if that. A lady I sat next to on the plane explained that western Oregon is very wet, all of the time and eastern Oregon is very dry, almost desert like. I laughed and told her she should come see Utah's desert and then she'd know what a desert really is! It is very depressing with clouds and rain all of the time, no matter what Oregoners say. They also don't have pulp free orange juice, grocery stores are hard to find (especially fruit and veggies), everyone drives slow and they drive even slower when it rains (they should be used to it), Oregon is NOT tax free, 12.5% for rental cars, ridiculous, etc, etc, etc...
So that is Oregon... But to end with a positive note to all of you who know of my pessimissm I loved the cold, wet beach (ha ha) to see where Goonies was filmed. And last but not least, Multinomah Falls is a must see with miles of other waterfalls to hike to!
There's one very good thing that came out of this trip. Vacations are good but home is best, I love Utah!

Twue Wuv

Twue Wuv... It can cause contention, especially if you don't have it. Being single at this age and time in my life causes me to sit back and look at people. I have found out many things about singles that I swear had better not happen to me! People (especially girls) get bitter if they aren't with a "special someone, significant other, love of your life, honeybuns, sweetheart, dear" or whatever sappy thing you want to call the opposite gender. It's like going to a AA meeting and instead of saying I'm a recovering alcoholic, it's like saying I'm a single and have no one in my life, so it's meaningless! Really people...

Yes in my religion you should get married and start a family, but not everyone on this earth is married! The Lord knows what he's doing and knows what you NEED AND WANT in life, but not on your agenda... On HIS... So please, stop with the bitterness and hate and panic attacks AND desperation because you think that your life is over just because you're not married or you just don't have a boyfriend or girlfriend. Take your life off pause and start living it. First, get a job, it's time to start making your own way in life (remember, debt is bad). Then you can do things that you've always wanted to do, get things that you've always wanted to get, start forgetting yourself and do service, stop thinking of yourself and remember there is ALWAYS someone out there who has it worse that you, ALWAYS...

Yes, I would love to find that man on a white horse offering me my glass slipper and riding off into the sunset. Not only to live happily ever after, but the point is to LIVE, and laugh, and love. So please don't wallow in self pity, or sink into the depths of despair. Start living, and living well. Take that road less traveled.
I've been taking those roads. Going on road trips to places I've always wanted to see. I've been hiking to the coolest places. I have a job working with animals I love. I'm going back to school to learn more and get licensed (I'm still 50/50 with that part of life. School... Yuk...) I have guy friends who are so much more normal than some girls I meet. Really girls, the drama must stop. So yeah, maybe, one day your prince will come, on his white horse, or with a glass slipper, a rose, a kiss, he might even be a beast, or he might just say "As You Wish." Either way, don't let him find you and your selfish, bitter attitude on your couch, crying and watching sappy romance movies in your sweats, stuffing your face with ice cream and chocolate waiting for that day, cuz girl, he won't find you! Just listen to good ole' George Strait:

There's a road, a winding road that never ends

Full of curves, lessons learned at every bend

Goin's rough unlike the straight and narrow

It's for those, those who go against the grain

Have no fear, dare to dream of a change

Live to march to the beat of a different drummer

And it all might come together

And it all might unraveled

On the road less traveled

For the road less traveled ain't for the faint of heart

For those who choose to play it safe and never stray too far

Me I want to live my life and one day leave my mark

And it all might come together

And it all come unraveled

On the road less traveled

I've chosen a pathway I may not endure

One thing's for certain nothing's for sure

And it all might come together

And it all might come unraveled

On the road less traveled

For the road less traveled ain't for the faint of heart

For those who choose to play it safe and never stray too far

Me I want to live my life and one day leave my mark

And it all might come together

And it all come unraveled

On the road less traveled

There's a road. A winding road that never ends...

Two Roads

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

~Robert Frost

What if the Hokey Pokey IS what it's all about?

I was just reading something one of my sister's wrote and had an epiphany. Life isn't that bad... Really... Think of everything you have. I have a job that drives me crazy and stresses me to the MAX, but I honest to goodness love it. I have a roof over my head, food to eat, and a totally awesome family with the coolest parents and craziest sister's, plus a fantabulous brother-in-law, who I all love to death! I have the bestest best friend who goes with me on any crazy road trips I decide to come up with, even if our lives freakishly resemble one another's sometimes. I have my own car, a dog (ok,ok my moms dog), a far out black bear collection and pictures, romance books, elvis movies, old country music, and much more... One of the best things I have is nature! To sit on a rock and listen to the babble of a stream, or the cry of a hawk, or even the wind whistling through the leaves. Now, that's therapy!
But one of the best things I have in my life, is the gospel. With it anything is possible. You can overcome anything if you just have enough faith and love. You don't have to know everything, heck, I don't! My motto with the gospel is by small and simple things because I am small and very simple minded. The one thing that bugs me the most about PEOPLE is: Note to self to all: Pride does kill. It will eat away your life. Don't let past bitterness, jealousy, or offenses get to you. Just BELIEVE in the Lord, He really does know what he's doing! Seriously, just get over it...
So it comes down to this... What if the Hokey Pokey IS what it's all about? "You put your right foot in, you put your right foot out, you put your right foot in, and you shake it all about. You do the Hokey Pokey and you turn yourself around. That's what it's all about!" You decide whether you're in or out. You decide whether to shake it off. You decide what life's about. You decide!

Life... Isn't it about time?

Life... Shouldn't there be more than work? Think about it. I spent 50 hours a week these past 2-3 weeks trying to manage and keep up with my clinic doing scheduling, payroll, maintenance, and breaking up fights before they become WW smackdown! And what do I have to show for it? Over-worked, under-paid, and highly stressed. Corporate telling me it's not good enough. Blah, blah, blah... When is it good enough? My ACTUAL JOB is to HELP animals and their owners. Not baby-sit a certain someone and listen to pencil pushers sitting at desks, trying to tell me how to run my clinic and do my job. Corporate America is great isn't it?.....

Well, now that I've vented for my very first blog I'll have you know, Jamie helped me with this. I am computer illiterate, but it makes for funny stories depending what buttons I accidentally push. So hopefully I'll remember how to do this again. Until then, pray that I keep my head and cool this week. I'll need it. And remember when you get over-worked and over-stressed ask yourself. "Life... Isn't it about time?" Time for what I ask? What answers do you get??? =)