Michele's Favorite Things

I'm pretty sure I've said this before, but my sister-in-law Michele's weekly letters inspire me and simply make me happy. This week she focused on some favorite things the kids love. I loved reading it, so I'm going to share, especially the parts that make me laugh.


"Joanne’s journals cracked me up because she wrote a lot about our journeys this year in our family motor home. No we don’t have a motor home but apparently she really wants us to have one."


"Rebecca: Loves [...] playing with my Tupperware. She loves to put her arms up in the air and throw herself on the floor while she kicks and cries. She loves to be out of the house and run after Dad and the kids on the way to the car in the morning. She practices laughing in the car. She loves to just sit by mom or dad and have us all to herself.

"Michael: loves cereal and LOTS of it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He also loves red bell pepper and cries for his red pepper sandwiches. [...] He loves his sword and will only try to get dressed in the morning if I promise to get his sword out of time-out. [...] His favorite whiney phrases: “It takes too long!”, “I can’t!”, and “Ugh!”. 

"Katherine: Loves to change her mind, (so all this changes minute-by-minute). She loves oatmeal—sometimes, and rice—sometimes, and chicken nuggets—sometimes, and crepes--all the time. She loves to help mom cook, and loves to clean the baseboards. 

[...]

"Joanne: loves pink and fashion. [...] She loves to put on shows and sing silly songs.  She loves [...] the smell of garlic, dill pickle sandwiches, peanut butter on pancakes, and “diamond cheese” sandwiches. Her favorite phrase at dinner time is “I’ll make something else”. [...] She loves going to the temple. 

"Ben: Loves computer games.  [...] He loves to read before bed. [...] He loves to make mom happy. [...] He loves getting a drink before bed, and he always wants to stay up and watch movies with mom and dad."

I hope you don't mind, Michele! It's just because I love you.

Pictures

I love taking pictures. I always have. I once thought about being a photographer, but then I couldn't fit the class into my schedule so I forgot about it, then I looked at real photographers' pictures and I realized I had absolutely no talent.

Then I married John.


This is Angelo:

He's John's step-dad. He is brilliant.

He may not be the best photographer, and he certainly doesn't get paid for it (though that's more personal choice than anything else), but he knows cameras and he knows sights. He's funny because he takes pictures most people won't think of, and some people don't like. He's a candid, behind-the scenes kind of guy:

This is actually one of my favorites from the wedding

He's given a camera to pretty much everyone in the family.
Let me rephrase that.
He has willingly permanently loaned all of his personal favorite cameras to everyone who has asked him for a camera to borrow for just a short while.
(we'll ignore the fact that he likely does this just so he can buy the newest best thing)


I, as it turns out, am no exception.
First, I sent out weekly family letters. Eventually pictures got mixed in. Eventually Angelo told me about some that he adored:

The food he liked because he loves taking pictures of food and Carol doesn't get it. I take waaay too many pictures of our meals. I tried stopping unless I had a real reason to want a picture. I've gotten better. Usually.

But Alma with his Jenga house? Sure it's a nice enough picture but there's nothing special about it. But both Angelo and my own hubby told me it was a great picture and that they love it. Hm.

Angelo told me I have a great eye. Well, ever since John got me a camera to document our life with I've worked on getting shots I like better, but I didn't know what a good eye meant. I still don't.

I was working for Angelo, selling camera stuff on eBay, and my family had our Reunion, so I borrowed the "work camera" for the week. He told me I could/should whenever I wanted to, but it's his expensive piece of equipment so I didn't want to cart it around all the time...but the family reunion was worth it.

And I came up with this:

These are pictures I can't get enough of. Especially the one with Ella and Michael on the frogs at the pool. That may be my favorite picture that I've ever taken. This last one with Ella on the lawn, too.

After the reunion I prepared to give Angelo back his prized possession. Except by then he'd bought a new and better prized possession and decided that I should keep this camera as long as I took lots of family photos.
I have taken lots of family photos.

However, I want to share more of my favorite pictures as my favorite pictures. I snap shots primarily to document my life, so I share shots to show that documentation. On occasion I'll share an obviously blurry picture because I love the moment it captured, even if my capturing of it wasn't excellent. So on occasion I'd like to share pictures because of the capturing as well as the moment.

Now, I have to warn you that I adore my nieces and nephews. So on occasion my obsession with them might cloud my view of what I really like about the photograph. Also, I may like something others may not see. But that's why this is my blog and I get to do what I want. :)

Michele's Letters

My sister-in-law Michele writes the family every week. I love love love her letters/emails. John's and my letters started in Mexico because his Dad requested them (he wanted us to write every day, actually. Hahahahahahaha), but when we got back I started them up again largely because of Michele's letters. Her style and my style are different, which in part saddens me because I want to write letters like her but it wouldn't be natural, but it works out in the end because they really should sound like me since they're about my (and John's) life. 

Michele's letters are loving, nostalgic, and funny and they show that she is everything a good mother should be. I mean a real good mother, not a modern mother who crafts every thing in sight and takes her kids to every possible extra-curricular. Not that doing that makes you a bad mother, just that doing that doesn't make you a good mother. 

Anyway, Michele's weekly letters boost my spirits and just make me happy.
Her pictures also make me happy. This one I couldn't get enough of, especially if you know Katherine.

Grateful A Day: Reading

A grateful a day keeps the grumpies away.
Or something like that.
In any case, I am posting one thing I'm grateful for on each day until Thanksgiving. I should probably do this all the time...I'll think about that later.

Today I am grateful for my ability to read

and my talent to read well.

This is spurred because I am struggling in Spanish. I realized today that it is very hard for me to stop and think about what I'm reading because I'm so used to simply already understanding it. This doesn't mean concepts, but actual words and structure. I have no memories of reading something and having to go slowly so that I could figure out what the words are and how they relate to each other. Now that I'm taking a Spanish class and have things to read, sure I can skip on through the words...but I have no idea what I just read, and not because my mind was somewhere else. I have to stop and evalutate each word individually and also in relation to those around it, or even the basic direction of the sentence gets lost. It's bizzare to me.

I have always attributed the majority of my intelligence to the fact that I can read well. (I attribute others' perception of my intelligence on the fact that I've never known how to keep my hand down in classes.) Some may dispute this, but I stand by it. I love reading, and I've learned a ton with my experiences in reading many different things.

Breather for Thoughts

So...school has completely overwhelmed me. I don't even know where to start to explain that. So I won't.

However, school has also given me tons of things to think about. At least an average of once a day I come up with some completely brilliant idea that I really want to share with the world through this, my creative outlet/aka blog. But whenever I'm near the computer and remember these things, I have to think about all the homework I'm behind on, or soon to be behind on. So I can't blog. Instead, I procrastinate.

How does that make sense? It shouldn't, but it does to me. Because blogging takes at least a half hour, usually more like 3 or 4 hours, though occasionally 2 or 3 minutes. Surfing the net, video games, and other simple, non-committal time wasters take "10 or 15 minutes" and are therefore justifiable temporary stress releases. Hahaha...so we won't talk about how those "10 or 15 minutes" are the real reason I'm overwhelmed with school.

Anyhow, I just wanted to get on here and mention a few thoughts that have come lately. Hopefully someday I can find the time, energy, and lack of complete laziness to elaborate. But for now I want to at least get my thoughts out.

1) I love love love my husband. I never tell anyone that enough. I think he's the most wonderful man on the planet and I feel overwhelmingly blessed to have married him. He's given me everything a girl could want and we have a relationship that is better than even I imagined marriage would be.

2) Despite my many shortcomings, I love being me. I am of great worth and I do have a lot to offer this world and especially those around me. I may not be talented or committed or driven the same way others are, but I am very valuable. The way I wish to live my life is not something to be looked down on.

3) I am a dang good friend. I may not have always thought that, and I definitely didn't think that others agreed with that, but I'm realizing that it is true. I know I can be awkward to meet sometimes and I'm not smooth at starting friendships, but once you mean something to me you're part of my life forever, and I'm not going to let that slide. I make the effort to spend time with people, or at the very least keep up with their lives. Not everyone can keep track of everyone, but I manage it, and that's something to be happy about.

4) I have a fairy tale life. Get married, go off and do awesome things, still have a social life, hubs gets a great and very secure job, buy an enormous house, become a cute housewife, be prepared (enough) for children when the time comes...I am ridiculously blessed.

5) I'm still a talented writer and a critical thinker. Don't judge my blog too harshly; this is me being very casual. I'm intelligent and I'm good at expressing my many opinions in the right context. I love feeling accomplished when I've written a good paper or when I'm learning a lot in a class.

6) I love my religion. It simply cannot not be true. I love how complex and yet incredibly simple it is, all at once. I love how much I can learn and understand and grow in the gospel; yet the most growth comes from the simple things I've been taught to do since I was old enough to talk.

7) This won't make any sense, but:
I love how I handle stress. I simply don't. Stress doesn't allow me to work; it forces me to crumble and be incapable of handling anything related to the cause of stress. So I don't stress. I find ways around stressing. I start to stress and I have to force myself to take a breather. There's no way stress is the answer, so I don't allow myself to deal with it. The things that I love never cause me real stress. Not only that, but when I do stress and then take a breather so I can function, life is so much more beautiful. I can thoroughly revel in the things that bring me joy.

Um...that's it for now. :)

Paradise Permeating

I've talked about my obsession with lilacs before:

Day 12: Lilacs
Day 23: 15 Facts
Day 1: 15 Facts by Johnny

So I don't think I have to explain back story. :)
In the second link it shows a picture of some of the lilac-smelling things I own. Despite my desire to smell lilacs all the time, I have purposefully procrastinated using most of them. Why? Because I didn't want to waste them on places that simply didn't deserve this divine smell.

Well, I'm in my own home. I've had one of my oil-heater thingies set up in the front room for a while, but I didn't have any unscented votive candles to use (I have plenty of lilac smelling votive candles :P). I bought a bag of tealights (discounted!) the other day so...go.

I got distracted and temporarily forgot about it.
Then I smelt this absolutely heavenly amazing smell, and I was confused. I've been too busy since I got home from school (ending in Zumba) to shower yet, so there's no way it was me. Even my perfume from this morning has faded. I didn't get it.
Then I did.
And I'm in paradise.

I am SO glad that it works. I've been worried that none of them would work since the house is big and there is a lot of open air to permeate. But it does it well. And I am happy.

I love this.

I started school last week. I was apprehensive, worried, nervous, scared, and bracing myself for drudgery.
I was also dead excited to have a life.

I could bore you with the details, but right now I want to focus on the things that are making emotions pulse through me.

I love that the classes at SLCC are small and personable.
I love half of my teachers, and I like the other half.
I love that I can raise my hand and participate.
I love that I feel like for once in my school career I will be actually learning something.
I love that most of me is committed to my classes instead of the normal "whatevs" approach.
I love that I am honestly excited about every single subject.
I love that I feel motivated.
I love that I actually understand the organization of each of my classes.
I love that I am here because I want to be, and no other reason.
I love that the government is paying me to go to school.
I love that I can get up every day.
I love that I come home and still have energy even though I'm physically exhausted and hungry.
I love that my Sarah Lynn will be in my Institute class. We haven't had a real class to be together in for years.
I love that I saw my wonderful good friend Stephen today.
I love that I got to share with Stephen in Institute, and that talking about religion didn't leave us both frustrated.
I love that I know people.
I love that I feel confident enough that my outgoing side is bursting out.
I love my Religious Diversities class. I don't know how it could be more perfect.
I love that I know I will stay on top of assignments.
I love that I'm actually excited to do my assignments.
I love that I already have a topic for all of my English papers.
I love that I get to write about something I'm passionate about, while learning more about it.
I love that I'm busy out of my mind.
I love that I'm burning a million calories and working out my leg muscles like crazy in Zumba.
I love that I'm excited to read my textbooks...perhaps cover to cover.
I love love love that I became friends with Aura Kenney today.
I love that Aura and I talked for at least an hour and a half straight and it was thoroughly enjoyable, and slightly addicting.
I love a million other things.
I love that each of the above were things I thought about, and got happy because of, before I wrote this.

Life freaking rocks.

100th Post 100 Facts

A while back I decided that if I ever got to 100 posts I would put 100 facts about me. Not too long ago I did 15 facts about me and that was HARD. But that was mostly because I wanted them meaningful. So hopefully this will be faster?

1 - My name is Brin Michelle Nelson Coulter
2 - I was born on June 15, 1990 at 7:45pm
3 - My birth day was a rainy Friday evening.
4 - I love the rain.
5 - I LOVE lilacs.
6 - My favorite animal is a tiger.
7 - My favorite color is purple, though I have fought for years not to have a favorite color.
9 - I am the youngest of ten children.
10 - I have 4 sisters.
11 - I have 5 brothers.
12 - I've been an aunt since I was 6 years old.
13 - I have 13 nieces
14 - I have 17 nephews
15 - With John's 3 nieces and 8 nephews, I am an aunt of 41...going on 42.
16 - My nieces and nephews are my favorite people.
17 - Being an aunt is my second favorite thing to be.
18 - Being a wife is my favorite thing to be.
19 - My husband is John Bryan Coulter.
20 - We were married on March 12, 2010.
21 - I think Johnny is the best thing that has ever happened to me.
22 - I've wanted to be a mother more than anything in my life.
23 - I've always thought about how I can be a better future mother.
24 - I fear not living up to my own mothering expectations.
25 - I fear having a disabled child, because I don't think I could take care of them.
27 - I want 4 children.
28 - Pizza is my favorite food.
29 - I'm a very picky eater.
30 - If freely allowed to pick my own meals, I often forget that I'm picky.
31 - I don't like beef.
32 - I don't like chocolate.
33 - I hate coconut.
34 - I love to bake.
35 - I love to entertain
36 - I love being with people.
37 - I love planning and preparing for an elaborate party.
38 - I desperately need a party planning partner.
39 - I've never broken any bones, to my knowledge.
40 - I've ridden in an ambulance 4 times, every time the patient.
41 - My favorite game is Bang!
42 - My favorite card game is Idiot.
43 - I used to be boy crazy.
44 - I still am boy crazy, I'm just happily married.
45 - I've only kissed 6 guys in my life.
46 - I can be a bit of a brat when in charge.
47 - I don't hate anyone.
48 - I love to read.
49 - I love grammar.
50 - I love my demented, over-attached puppy.
51 - I love my taste buds' happiness more than I love a flat tummy.
52 - Holly thinks I'm very compassionate.
53 - Gabby says I have a daughter. (A non-biological, non-adopted, non-reality daughter. That's her)
54 - Melissa believes I am always smiling.
55- My name rhymes with grin.
56 - My mother thinks I "light up a room when [ I ] walk in and make everyone feel loved."
57 - Michael says I have hair.
58 - I do have hair.
59 - I have NEVER died my hair.
60 - I love my natural hair color
61 - My hair grows fast enough that I believe it to be practically a sin for me not to donate it every so often
62 - I hate my hair long.
63 - (Also from my mother:) " [ I am ] married.
64 - "[ I am ] number 10 of 10 children.
65 - "[ I ] graduated from Granger High School and was a class officer."
66 - I loved high school.
67 - I was definitely ready to move on to college.
68 - Natalia says I "throw the most amazing parties ever. That's fact. :)"
69 - That is a fact, even though everyone is always too busy to come to my parties these days.
70 - Parris says my name is Brin.
71 - Jan thinks I'm adorable and that I have a sister named Marcela.
72 - I do have a sister named Marcela.
73 - Joy says I am "21 years old, have brown hair, and [ I am ] tall, cute, and sweet."
74 - I have the most amazing friends in the world.
75 - I have freaking awesome family.
76 - I love them all.
77 - I'm lazy.
78 - I procrastinate.
79 - I love details.
80 - I love organizing.
81 - I love housework.
82 - I didn't lie about loving housework.
83 - I have a gorgeous, beautiful, wonderful, quality, steal-of-a-price home.
84 - I need to paint its' awful walls.
85 - I have it ingrained in me that men know everything about computers. I'm glad I married John.
86 - I grew up with a distaste for dogs.
87 - We have a dog now, and I absolutely adore her.
88 - My dog Silk is ridiculously attached to me and follows me around like a shadow.
89 - I'm not kidding or exaggerating in the slightest on that last one.
90 - I have never had any hope of knowing how many books I've read in my life; it's probably in the tens of thousands.
91 - I never thought I would marry a man who could count the number of books he has read in his life. On his hands.
92 - I did marry that man.
93 - While I was growing up we had several thousand novels in the house, and several hundred encyclopedias, scriptures, dictionaries, cookbooks, etc.
94 - My skin is perfect for tanning.
95 - I'm not good at swimming, but I enjoy the water.
96 - I'm not very afraid of dying, just the pain of death.
97 - I think clouds and water are the only perfectly beautiful things in this world.
98 - I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. (Mormon)
99 - I believe that it is the only true church ordained of Christ in these days.
100 - I love my life.

Day 29 - Brother-in-law-in-laws

Day 29 - A picture that can always make you smile.

This is my good friend John. Not my hubby John, mind you, but my good friend John. He is also one of my two MOST FAVORITE brother-in-law-in-laws. The other one is talking to that cute brunette in the background. They're twins, and they're some of my favorite people in the whole wide world. I keep switching back and forth between which one is my very favorite brother-in-law-in-law, which is usually whichever one I'm with. But I never tell them that. They're both my favorite brother-in-law-in-law. But I'm both of their favorite sister-in-law-in-law. Because I am that cool. And I'm not a twin.

I love this picture. It was taken at my end-of-summer-after-graduation goodbye party. Which is kind of funny, because I spent a lot of time with those boys the next year. That's what I got for living with a sister who  met the man of her dreams and wanted to come down from USU to visit him every weekend and I had to drive her so that she could manage to survive her classes. But I didn't mind. I love those boys. And since John is the one who's really in the picture, today he is my favorite of the two. Don't you dare tell James that.

We met when we were wee widdle chwildwen. Their second oldest sister was dating my oldest brother (we are both the youngest of ten) in High School and eventually they married. The boys and I didn't get along very well back then. They told me they were better than me because they're 8 months older than me. It's a strong argument. Good thing I eventually won with the female card ;)

Through family gatherings for the sake of mutual nieces and nephews, we got on not-horrible terms. Then we went to High School together. Now we're inseparable. Oh, except for all those things that separate us. Like school. And being busy. And other friends. And different interests. And me getting married. And Shelby. And Mexico. And missions...sigh.

John is h.i.l.a.r.i.o.u.s.
He FINALLY sent me a letter after I sent him dozens. (The fact that only one was actually directed to him has no meaning here) And I couldn't stop laughing. You'd have to know him to understand. Or you'd have to read it. I have no idea where it is so tough luck.

Anyhow, this picture makes me quite happy. I love and miss John. And James. They're my favorite.


While I'm at it: this one is also great.

It's an inside story. I don't feel like sharing.

Brin's Books

I like stealing things. My friend blogged a post about the first book she read this summer. I think she's going to put more, but maybe not. I don't know what her plans are. But either way, it gave me an idea.

Lately, and also throughout the years, I've wished I had a list of what books I've read, and how many times each. Unfortunately the library does not keep a record of what you've checked out once it's been returned and fines paid for. I've read way too many books to know by memory, plus my memory is less than stellar.

But why not start now?
Also, I've been very happy lately and being happy makes me extra talkative, and I like my blog because I can talk to it and it doesn't matter if people have to listen to me ramble.

And I just decided I will make a new blog just for my books.

Brin's Books

Enjoy! Or ignore, whichever you prefer.

Day 22 - Just Dance

Day 22 - A picture of something you wish you were better at.

Dancing

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I kind of grew up thinking the girls who danced were bad. Kind of like the people who smoked, or watched R rated movies, or got tattoos. Basically, while growing up I formed my own idea of rules that my parents had for me without them ever actually telling me. Some were tied to being LDS, others not. But most were. 

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Dancing was one of my imaginary rules. As I grew up more, I realized what things were actual rules, and what weren't. Dancing clearly wasn't. It took me a while to really understand that, but once I started dancing, I knew there was no way it wasn't perfectly wonderful.

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Sadly, I didn't start dancing until I was a teenager. Ballroom dance first, then a little modern dance. If you want to be amazing at dancing, you have few options:

Start young

Be incredibly talented

or

Be ridiculously dedicated.

Probably all three.

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Ballroom dancing came easily to me, but I was nowhere near amazing at it.

I loved dancing.

The closest thing to it that I know is piano. I'm not amazing at that either, but when I have a piece that I've spent hours on and I have it memorized and I play it without thinking...I look down at my fingers and I'm amazed. I'm doing that. It's gorgeous, it's wonderful, it's a natural high. I love it.

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Dancing fascinates me. I love watching competitions.
But at the same time, it makes me want to cry.

I want to be doing that. 

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I'll continue to pursue it, but it's not realistic for me to spend the time I want to to get as good as I want to. So I'll have to be content watching. Which, for the most part, I am.

Day 16 - Still Awesome After the Honeymoon

Day 16 - A picture of someone who inspires you.

My brother Jarom is amazing, and his wife Michele makes him more amazing because she is amazing, and together they're just plain awesome. Like, awe-some. And awesome!

I've had a lot of examples of marriages in my life. Most of them are great, both as examples to learn from and as successful marriages in themselves. I don't like to pick favorites when it comes to family (the source of most marriage examples in my life) because I want to be sure everyone knows I love them...but Jarom and Michele really stand out and they deserve some recognition.

I've always thought they made a fantastic couple, and maybe the fact that they live far enough away that I don't get to see their faults plays a big part in my perception of them, but I think they're an ideal example of a wonderful marriage, family, and life.

Jarom is the well-behaved class clown, and Michele is creative and classy. They're both blessed with the happy, positive, loving personality that everyone loves to be around. They're always laughing, always adventurous, always making everyone around them feel loved and welcome.

Their five children are perfect, even if they aren't always perfectly well-behaved. I think it gives them character. The important thing is that they will grow up to be amazing people. Jarom and Michele have taught them well and taught them right, and most importantly they have loved them completely and unconditionally. So as their kids learn and grow and make the mistakes that are essential to the previous two, they will have the values and structure that their fantastic parents have provided them to fall back and lead them on.

As great as everything else they do is, the thing that inspires me most is the way they treat each other, even after nearly a decade of marriage.

The fact that they love each other is screamingly obvious. They are still as affectionate as I remember them being when I first met Michele. They're not afraid to stop, drop, and smooch, even when other people are in the room. Far from disgusting, it makes me thrillingly happy.

When John and I got to spend Christmas with them at their home in California, I loved watching the way they acted and interacted. Not a word nor whiff of criticism and negativity ever passed between them as far as I could tell. Support and strengthening is the attitude that keeps them going.

Jarom and Michele's marriage I'm sure isn't perfect and has plenty of room to grow...but whatever faults make that true are far from where I can see them. Not only does it make me happy to see my brother so happy, it encourages me that a happy marriage like the one I envision IS possible, even after the so-called honeymoon stage is long forgotten.

Day 13 - Rane's Clouds

Day 13 - A picture of your favorite band or artist.

I already did this here.

But I won't be spoiled into repeating everything just because these post lists are repetitive. It says artist. That doesn't have to be musical, right? Right :)

I'm funny when it comes to art. John loves modern art, but I'm like "meh...no thanks" for most of it. Pictures in my house have to mean something to me, or be drop-dead gorgeous.

One of my favorite pictures that I can't wait for us to have in our house I first saw in the new Gospel Principles Manual. It took my breath away.

I'm afraid that much of the Church's art has been...less than appealing to me. Sure, they're great to depict things that happened, but I didn't think they were all that pretty. I'm so happy that now I can order gorgeous pictures from the church's store! Yay! :)

Anyway, the picture is called "Jehovah Creates the Earth" and I love it!

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The artist is Walter Rane. He's done a lot of paintings that the church uses, not all of which I'm in love with. So perhaps I can't really call him my favorite artist. But I don't really have one so I'm just focusing on this, one of my favorite pictures.

Day 12 - Lilacs!

Day 12 - A picture of something you love.

Lilacs!!!!