Box Elder Bug Infestation

Here is the proof, in case you don't believe me, when I say we have a mild problem with Box Elder bugs in our home.  I feel as thought I have been placed with the Box Elder curse my days of living in Utah, just about every home I have lived in within the Greater Salt Lake Area has been infested with Box Elder bugs.  The charming house in the avenues on 5th ave had them all through the winter, finding them in our sheeplike carpet.  The house on 1st ave had them in the shower, and my condo on 9th East and 40th south suffered greatly in the kitchen area as they shoved themselves in the crack of the back door.  Certainly summer they are at their peak, but they have no problem hibernating in your home in the winter and fall as well.

Much to my dismay our home in Bountiful is no exception to the Box Elder invasions, except, that it might be the worse than the other three homes combined. No joke! Really!!! In fact the picture from above is Box elders collected on the front porch after just 3 days of sweeping.

 Micah mentioned it was bad when we got married, but I didn't trust they could be as insidious as I have previously experienced. 

He proved me wrong.

 In fact it has gotten so ridiculous, at one point I began to make a list of all the locations I have found Box Elder bugs in our home (dead and alive) where they absolutely have no right to be. These bugs, I ensure you, have NOOOOO BOUNDARIES!

Top 10 List of where we have found Box Elder Bugs where they shouldn't be:

10. Couch 

(How dare you try to ruin my episode of watching 'The Office'!)

9. Rug 

(not such a biggie except when you bury your body into the carpet fibers and my toes touch you as I walk)

8. Window 

(this also isn't so gross, except the fact it isn't ONE but TWO bugs, and even worse, MATING!, Ewww, using my home to be an exhibitionist)

7. Yoga Mat 

(you have now entered sacred territory, how dare you?)

6. Bathroom 

(everywhere, floor, sink, toilet, ceiling, apparently your favorite hang out)

5. Mailbox 

(ok, so it has gone to far when you leave your mating babies and poo on my mail)

4. Bed 

(an even more sacred territory than the yoga mat)

3. Shower 

(the entire reason for showering is to cleanse myself of you little dirty pests)

2. Lint Dryer 

(don't ask me how this is even possible, now its gone beyond too far)

1. Toothbrush 

(not just anywhere, but on the bristles that clean my teeth)

This means war! The box elder's will not win against man.  Micah has shown his wonderful extermination skills thus far in controlling your population as you can see from the dead carcasses on the front porch. But after finding bugs in the above areas, and others unmentioned, Micah has decided to eliminate the source of these pesky creatures. In the month of September he will be chopping down our Box Elder tree in the front yard, no longer will these little pests cross boundaries they are not entitled to cross!!!

My very first review...

Wow, it's true, my very first review of Connie's Cookies came by the lovely Jessica I met at the Summerfest 08. She was helping out with the Oak Pitt BBQ, and was delighted to stumble across the Gluten Free Cookies. Have a read and tell me what you think! Her review http://wasatchfronteatsout.blogspot.com/2009/08/connies-cookies.html.

"This too shall pass"

So, I admit it, I have become a radio talk show junkie! I love to listen to Dr. Laura and Glenn Beck, because they focus on what is real and standing up for our values in this chaotic world.  Dr. Laura is on as I prepare and bake cookies in the afternoon for the Farmers Market. Today, while baking and listening intently she read the email of the day, I can't quote it verbatim, but the theme of it was based on the biblical quote "This too shall pass..."

The writer of the email and Dr. Laura expressed how we often use that phrase "This too shall pass", when life is bad, or trials are abundant.  It's a comforting thing to know that hard times will pass. But what they brought to my attention that I hadn't considered is that "This too shall pass" applies to not just BAD times but GOOD times as well. Do we cherish the good, because it too shall pass? We never know what tomorrow holds, are we grateful for what today is? As I consider that, I started to realize all of the wonderful, amazing experiences in life that I take for granted. It is hard to be grateful for them when thoughts are crowded with worrying about the past or future, that which you cannot control.   I realized yet again, another reason why I love to practice yoga! It helps me to live more in the present moment.  I am so grateful for every moment I have on this earth, to experience the good and the bad, it makes me who I am, it shapes me, and molds me, it infuses my soul with the fragrance of eternity.

What a privilege it is...

This morning upon arising, I was crabby, ask Micah.  It's true, somedays I wake up feeling tired, groggy, and like I got up on the wrong side of the bed.  As I continued in my morning routine, I had to go for a fast run and yoga session before teaching the 9:15 Gentle Yoga class at Infusion.  As I was running sluggishly a thought began to pop into my mind, a moment of inspiration. The thought was "What a privilege it is...". I thought what a privilege to run in the morning hours before the day has begun. What a privilege it is to move my body and feel the wind on my face.  

My thoughts turned to Yoga, what a privilege it is to practice and teach yoga. What a privilege it is to offer the beautiful practice of mindfulness into people's lives.  What a privilege it is to have received wonderful instruction and training to enable me to teach. What a privilege it is to have students eager to learn and share their practice. 

As I went on to class, I wove the theme into the class, as an intention for the class, and we revisited this idea every few minutes while flowing in and out of poses. What a privilege it is to take an hour out their day to connect with their mind, body, and spirit. What a privilege to practice yoga?

Now I realize I have only addressed this privilege idea as it pertains to yoga, but thats the beauty of it, it bleeds into every aspect of our daily living. There are times when, like this morning, I fall into the "Wo is me.." syndrome. The "wo is me" is defined by feeling that you HAVE to do something rather than GET to do something. When "wo is me" sets in, we start to feel like our responsibilities in life are burdens, that "if only" I had this, or "if only" I had that, things would be better. We may start to see others as having more ideal lives, less responsibilities, and freer of burdens then ourselves. "Wo is me" starts small, little thoughts about how we could be better off. The problem with the "wo is me", is that when we give in to it, it grows bigger and bigger. Like a cancer it begins to eat away at our cells, our organs, our muscles, and our ability to function at a healthy capacity. Suddenly we no longer see things clearly, indeed the health of our "thoughts" is in jeopardy.

As a remedy for the toxic "wo is me" syndrome, I have used the sure proof remedy of "What a privilege it is."  When a thought enters my mind that says "Wo is me", or leads to feeling sorry for my situation, I replace it by "What a privilege it is."  The options are endless with "What a privilege it is....", as I realize the copious amounts of blessings and privileges I have in my life. 

What a privilege it is to breath

What a privilege it is to move

What a privilege it is to be aware of myself (only humans do this, animals can not)

What a privilege it is to think

What a privilege it is to make decisions

What a privilege it is to learn

What a privilege it is to experience

What a privilege it is to love

What a privilege it is to have a family

What a privilege it is to have a job, even in a crappy economy

What a privilege it is to have so many conveniences in life others do not have

What a privilege it is to eat and nourish myself

What a privilege it is to be married, or single

What a privilege it is to have purpose

What a privilege it is to know my purpose

What a privilege it is to be a daughter of God

What a privilege it is to write and express my feelings

Truly, what a privilege it is.

So next time your mind falls into the "wo is me" category, and it will, its a part of life, replace it with "What a privilege it is".

Lessons from a 6 yr old

Tonight my sister, Caren, and her adorable family came to visit us during their roadtrip to Utah. They have a sweet 6 yr old, Sixti, and entertaining 3 yr old, Jaxx,

 and a beautiful little 7 month old baby, Stori.

 It was delightful to have them visit as they live in California and we see them rarely.  We spent time showing the kids the house, our spooky crawl space in the basement, our garden. They played on the piano, ate cookies, and picked out some hand made earrings.  Sixti, at 6 years old does not have her ears pierced yet, but I still let her pick our a pair to wear when she does.  Mom also took a pair as well, totaling 2 pairs for both Mom and Sixti. 

At the end of their visit I decided to show Sixti how to make a pair, as I thought she would find it entertaining. I didn't have the intention of giving her the pair since she didn't yet have pierced ears, and had already received a pair to wear in the future. As it got time to go, she sat there realizing she could only take two pairs of earrings, one for mom, and one for her.  She seemed to have grown very attached to the pair we had just made, with the stones she had hand picked. I told her she could swap them if she wanted. As we sat there for several minutes I could tell there was a feeling of worry and sadness on her face. She switched the pair but then held on to the original pair she had picked for herself. She knew she had to give one up and it seemed the most painful decision ever. As I observed her sadness I asked her mom if she could take them both, as I didn't want to be the one to break a little girls heart.  Sixti had clearly exhibited with minutes of sincerely agonizing over the right pair to choose that it was more than just getting her way.

My sister and myself both influenced her to go with the original pair she had chosen, the ones for her. As we took the other pair of earrings back, everyone had left the house, and I noticed again the notable sadness in her face. I gave her an extra cookie, apple, and necklace to make up for the lack of earrings. As she went outside she let dad sweep her up and help her sadness. I asked my sister once again if I could let her have the other pair. Again mom said "Sixti, you don't have pierced ears yet, you don't need another pair."  Sixti replied with tears in her eyes, "I didn't want to other pair for myself, I wanted to give them to Solei."  At that moment it all became clear. It wasn't about getting two pairs of earrings for herself. She simply wanted to give this gift to Solei, her 7 yr old cousin, that she happens to just adore.  I realized that the minutes of agonizing over which pair to take meant giving up either her own pair or a gift for her beloved cousin and friend. The thought of leaving without that gift was heart-wrenching. And what was more touching was that all the extra cookies and treats in the world for her, wouldn't make up for missing out on the gift she wanted to give to another.  It wasn't a tantrum or an act of wanting, rather, a selfless loving heart that wants to give. 

It made me think how the Savior must have felt, when he had to make the decision to be our Savior.  I am sure it must have been agonizing to know that he would have to give up all his own desires and will.  But at some point, he realized that everything that he could gain in the world for himself, would never match up to the priceless gift he could give another.  He knew that according to God's plan, he couldn't have both.  He realized that the happiness from giving far exceeded his own will, and he must have clung on to this when Satan tempted him by offering the whole world to him.  Christ understood that any suffering or sacrifice he made would have far more eternal weight than gratifying his own immediate needs.  He was the perfect example of giving.  Christ gave the matchless gift, the gift that heals, the gift that lightens our burdens, the gift that is infinite, and the gift that gives us hope to overcome this world. I am so grateful for my sweet niece, Sixti, to remind me of this matchless gift, with her innocent, selfless, sacrificing nature. Greater love hath no man.