45: A Tribute to Randy Stout and Other Great Dads

Randy Stout, a great friend, died yesterday from a major heart attack. Aaron is his son and a very good friend of mine.
Stout family, you are in my prayers. Randy, you will be missed.
I know that Heavenly Father has a plan and purpose for Randy. Having an eternal perspective helps so much in coping with the death of a loved one.

I can't help but think of what if that happened to my dad. Randy was only 45 years old.

45

My dad turns 49 this year. What if?
What if tomorrow is my last day with my dad?

I want him to take me on another motorcycle ride.
I want to eat ice cream and burned cookies dipped in milk with him.
I want to go for another 7 hour drive like we did four Christmases ago.
I want another father's blessing.
I want him to kiss me on my forehead and tell me goodnight like he's done since I was a little girl.

Of all the great memories I have had with my dad, those were the best. I want to do that again with you, Dad.
I love you.

P.S. Dad, sorry I exploited your age.

Fun, Laughter, Love

Girls' night outs are always so fun. Filled with adventures around town, making inside jokes and laughing about them all night, and, of course, love. I really do love all my girlfriends.




The night started out with a delicious dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory. Yummy Spinach Tortellini followed by Spumoni ice cream. Very few ice creams beat OSF's Spumoni.

We then went to Limitless at the Cinemark theatre. The storyline and plot of the movie are quite captivating. If you haven't seen it, I would recommend it; however, it isn't a top favorite. I'll admit that movie made me dizzy from time to time, and I never get dizzy in movies. Great storyline, but the producers/directors/dp's/whoever got a little carried away with their technique. 

After the movie we went to Spark. So fun! The drinks there are delicious. I got the Shirley Temple. It comes with cotton candy coming out of the drink! Yum.

All in all it was a great night filled with fun and laughter and love.

Festival of Colors

On March 26, 2011, I went to the Festival of Colors for the first time. SO FUN. Colored chalk dust everywhere, weird sermon guy, dancing, laughing, and colorful.

Meet Kyle. He has a green handprint on his face.

Most people ask why it's not all over in my hair. Truthfully, my hair kept changing from yellow, to orange, to pink, to purple, to green, back to yellow, and I think it ended in a shade of purple. After two washes it was back to normal.

Half-n-Half

Often times I step back from the forefront and take a look at my life. I always see that I am just like my parents in so many ways.
People who know my dad say I am just like my dad. People who know my mom say I am just like my mom.

So I wondered, just how alike am I to both of my parents?
After making the lists of similarities between me and my mom, and me and my dad, I left the lists on the kitchen counter. A day later I saw that my dad had written his 2 cents on each list. On the list of me and my dad, he wrote, "Extremely attractive." On the list of me and my mom, he wrote, "Wanted by all the guys in the singles ward." I laughed and thought, that's something I would do, write on someone else's stuff just to add a little input.

My Dad
My dad and I have identical bodies (with the exception of male/female-ness [I have some figure]). Our physique, body shape, and toned, prominent muscles are the same. Our legs and arms are structured the same. I got my height from him. Our hands and feet are practically cloned structures, down to the very misshapen parts. I got his hair, his lips, his eyes, his chubby cheeks, his chin. We even have the same facial expressions.
Apart from our phenotypes (the physical effect of genetics), we are alike emotionally. We both like to know we are liked, but we don't have the need to be liked; if someone doesn't like us, we couldn't care less! We are both very extroverted; we aren't afraid to meet new people or stand out from a crowd. We have people skills. Apparently we are impatient; I think we're becoming more patient with age.

My Mom
The only phenotype I got from my mom is my nose.
However, though we have basically nothing physically in common, we think almost exactly alike. We have the want to be better at what we do. We are competitive, but we are okay if we lose. We are huge into people-watching; thus, we understand people. We think of all possibilities that can affect one situation. We talk the same--have the same vocabulary and use the same tones throughout our conversations.
The reason why people think we look so much alike is because of our lifestyle. We are fit, healthy. We dress the same. We style our hair the same (thank you Logan!). We even do our makeup similar.

I am half of my dad, and half of my mom. Half-n-Half.
I love my parents so very much! They are such great examples to me. I hope to be the kind of parents to my children as they have been to me.

Live the Questions

"Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions."
--R.M. Rilke from "Letters to a Young Poet"

I saw this quote in James Victore's book and really liked it, but I didn't quite understand what it meant. Then, after realizing some things in my life, it made a lot more sense. Stop asking questions and just go, just do, just become.
I want to venture out from my bubble. I want to go to restaurants I haven't been to and order new items from the restaurants I have. I want to go rock climbing. I want to run on a weekly basis. I want to go sky-diving in the next 5 years. I want to have a huge snowball fight with everyone in my city.
 
I want to live the questions.