"You're next . . . Mwaaahahahahaaa!"

My cute cousin Jana Taylor was married to Dave Dixon the other day in the St. Paul Minnesota Temple. They make a great couple! Last night they had a wedding reception here in Utah, since Dave is from Orem and most of the Taylors live out this way. The reception was held up Provo Canyon at the Mt. Timpanogos park, and there was a definite hint of fall in the air. It was especially fun to see Uncle Don and Aunt Patricia since they live in Wisconsin and we don't get to see them very often. Uncle Don and Dad look like twins!!! It's so funny to see them together. They have the same hair, the same smile, the same nose, the same expressions--Don is just a tad taller than Dad. It was a very nice family gathering. I am the next Taylor grandchild scheduled to be married, and so last night whenever someone would say hi to me, the next thing they would say was, "Sooooo, you're next?" Then they would laugh: "Mwwwaaahahahahahahaaaaaaa!" :-) Just kidding, they didn't really laugh like that. But yes, I am indeed the next Taylor in line for marriage.

IKEA!

Today I was introduced to a wonderful place: IKEA! IKEA came to Utah while I was away in Mississippi, and I have been wanting to check it out ever since I returned home from school. It is Lindy's favorite store, so Lindy, Mom, Camden, Riley, Sid and I took a trip up there today. It is a shopper's paradise. IKEA can make all of your home furnishing dreams come true. It was even more wonderful than I had imagined. I think that everyone needs an IKEA close by. Thank heavens for the Swedes! Sweden seems to be one of the world's most innovative countries--they're always a step ahead of everyone else. Many wonderful things have originated in Sweden including IKEA, Saab, and Volvo. The amazing computer software called Skype, which allows people to make phone calls on the Internet, instant message, and talk with each other online, was created by Swedish entrepreneurs. I love Sweden and I love IKEA. The girls especially loved browsing through the Kids' IKEA section. They even have great food at IKEA! We had some delicious Swedish meatballs for lunch.

Speaking of other countries, it has been a lot of fun to watch the Olympics lately. I love the Olympics. While it is not quite as fun to watch them on TV as it is to see the athletes compete in real life, as we found out during the 2002 Winter Olympics in SLC, it is still neat to watch all of the events. There are several Utah connections to the Olympics this year--especially in volleyball. Two of the players on the U.S. men's volleyball team are BYU grads, and the head coach of the team also used to play and coach at BYU. (It was his in-laws who were attacked in Beijing the other day, and his father-in-law was killed. That was such a tragic thing! I hope that his mother-in-law will recover all right.) One player on the U.S. women's v-ball team is from Utah: Logan Tom. Another member of the U.S. women's team, though she is not on the Olympic roster this year, is former Timpanogos High School v-ball queen Kristin Richards.

During my high school years at Mountain View, I played volleyball against Kristin and her sister Lauren. At 6'1" and 150 pounds, Kristin looked like a giant to me. My 5'3" 100 pound frame did not quite compare. We always got creamed by Timpanogos when we played them. I distinctly remember one match when I attempted to dig one of Kristin's spikes. I got the ball up, but in the process I totally got the wind knocked out of me! I guess that's my volleyball claim to fame: I had the wind knocked out of me by a member of the U.S. volleyball team. :-)

Cowlalily

Look at the cute baby cow!!!!! This picture was taken on Monday when the baby cow in Fairfield, whom I have named Floyd, was just two days old. He's really adorable, and he likes to jump around and kick his legs in the air. His hobbies also include eating and sleeping.

Look what was waiting for me when I arrived home from work yesterday! Greg sent a beautiful callalily and rose bouquet. He's so nice! He knew how sad we were about Sarah, Joel, and Eliza leaving town, and he thought that the flowers would cheer us up around here--which they certainly have. Thank you, Greg! We were very glad to hear that the Agates arrived safely in South Carolina this evening. They will surely have another great school year at Clemson!

Yesterday was an especially fun day of work because I got to have a picnic with Dad! He drove out to Fairfield with me and brought the 4-wheeler along. He went for some fun rides around Cedar Valley while I was at work, then we drove home together in the evening. It was funny because there was someone there at Camp Floyd waiting to go on a tour when we first arrived in the morning, then when Dad came back for lunch there was a couple there at the museum, then when Dad came back to pick me up in the evening some people had just left the museum. So he thought that I'd had a really busy day--but actually the five people that he saw were the only visitors I had all day :-) Monday had been really busy though. We had 44 people come through, and I was the only one there!

I had the day off today though, so Mom and I were able to do some wedding planning, and then we all got to spend the evening with the Barrett girls while Nate and Lindy went to see Brian Regan. The girls are so cute and funny! Camden and Riley gave me a new hairdo, complete with "homemade piggy tails," as they called them.

Sometimes Open, Sometimes Closed

If you needed any more reasons not to vote for Obama in November, this picture at the left should sufficiently frighten you into casting your vote elsewhere. There is Obama with his buddies Jesse Jackson and Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (aka the Mad Serbian Dictator). Yikes! Can you think of a more troublesome trio? Blagojevich and Obama are cut out of the same political fabric, and that is very scary.

I guess that, as evidenced by this photograph, Blagojevich knows he is not a good governor (and is quite happy about that fact)? He surely must know that the people of Illinois (except for his dirty friends in Chicago) don't like him. The other day he didn't show up for the parade at the Illinois State Fair. It's tradition that the governor be in the parade, but Blago didn't show for the last two years. He probably knows that people in Springfield would throw tomatoes at him. He said that his reason for not being in the parade was that he had to conduct some "state business" up in Chicago. Well, if he lived in the governor's mansion and conducted state business at the state capitol building in Springfield like he is supposed to, then his "state business" would not have taken him away.

The latest outrage in Springfield is that the governor has declared that, despite lawmakers' votes to the contrary, the Illinois Department of Transportation offices will be moved from Springfield to the town of Harrisburg down in the southern tier of the state. I think that Blago is trying to ruin Springfield. The IDOT move will take about 150 jobs away from the state capitol. The Illinois General Assembly didn't even approve the move, but the governor has gone ahead and declared it to be a "done deal." He does act like a king or a dictator.

There was a funny letter to the editor in the Illinois State Journal-Register this morning. One lady wrote about the state historic site closings: "Maybe, our Illinois license plates should read 'Land of Lincoln: Sometimes Open, Sometimes Closed.'" :-)

As long as I am on my political soap box, I want to just comment on a couple of other things: first of all, with John Edwards' scandalous affair coming out, people are claiming that his political career is over--as it should be. But, may I ask, why was Bill Clintons' political career not over when his little "episode" came out? And the fact that he lied under oath while he was the president? During her presidential campaign, Hillary claimed that, if elected, the Clintons would "restore honor to the White House." Ha ha ha--that's a funny joke! It totally bugs when people paint George W. Bush to be a bad person and Bill Clinton to be a good guy--it doesn't say much for the moral state of our country. The second thing I want to mention is global warming. It is not real. Humans are not changing the environment--the environment changes itself. Do people not know that the climate has been changing for billions of years? Has anyone ever heard of the ice age? Glaciers? Things must have warmed up a bit for the glaciers to melt.

Anyway, I am writing all of this because I am the only one at Camp Floyd today, and I have way too much time on my hands :-) Just kidding--I have a few things to do. This morning I walked over and visited the new baby cow. He is so cute!!!! He has big floppy ears and big, long legs with a little tiny body. He's adorable.

Four Score and One Year Ago . . .

. . . or, actually just one year ago today, was my first day in Charleston, Illinois! I have never been quite so distraught in my entire life as I was that day. Not only was I homesick for home, but also for Mississippi, where I had just finished my summer as a park ranger. Mom came to Mississippi to help me pack the car and drive to Illinois. The morning after we arrived in Charleston I took her to the train station in Mattoon, and she went up to Chicago to fly home. I don't think I've ever felt quite so alone in my whole life as I did that day. I was in a strange place, and I anticipated that I would have quite a long school road ahead of me (but it's a good thing that I didn't know exactly how hard school would be--or else I might have taken off that day! just kidding :-) That evening I met my fellow classmates for the first time, and then that next morning we left at 5:00 a.m. for Grand Rapids, Michigan. All of that seems like it happened so long ago. Think of how much has happened in just one year!

I have never dealt well with change. One thing that really helped me when I first got to Charleston was a CES talk by President Faust. He passed away just a couple of days before I arrived in Illinois, so his words were especially meaningful to me. In his talk called "Beginnings," which he gave in August 2007, he said, "I have found that in accomplishing just about anything, the most difficult part is getting started." He then said, "Nothing is static. Everything changes. We need the courage to make necessary changes in our lives," and, "for those who can adapt, who can bend, who can modify, who can improve, lies great opportunity. Sometimes we need to have the strength not to take counsel from our fears. This takes courage." His words gave me the courage to carry on even though when I arrived in Charleston I was scared and sad. And many great things happened because I went to school there!

Primary was much better today than last week--probably because only three of the five kids were there. Three is a much easier number of five-year-olds to manage. Today we talked about being good examples. Even though the kids can be very wild, they are also very smart and kind, and I'm grateful for the chance to learn from them. When they are not punching me in the throat, they can be very nice. In fact, a few weeks ago when we were talking about being nice and I told them something mean that someone had said about me, Nauvoo said: "But what they said about you is not true!!!" :-) They are very sweet. Well, I'm off to watch my two favorite shows: "Antiques Roadshow" and "Perry Mason."