Flooding

 Right now, there is flooding in my home state of Louisiana and my current state of Utah. Weird. This is scary for all the families and their homes that are affected by this event. My hearts go out to all who are struggling with the disasters. Flooding is devastating, I know.

This particular bit of flooding is here in Cache Valley, the Blacksmith Fork River. We have had a really wet spring and over 200% snowpack this season, causing all the flooding. Who would think that in Utah of all places (a desert) we would be having problems with too much water?

This levee protecting 10,000 acres of farmland at Bunches Bend in East Carroll Parish, La., failed Friday, May 13, 2011, just as Gov. Bobby Jindal flew over the area.

They opened the Morganza Spillway in Southern LA as a means of saving Baton Rouge and New Orleans. It's better to floods thousands of acres of farmland and some homes in order to save the two largest cities in the state with the most dense population. Still scary and sad though. I'm just glad that all my family is safe and rather dry in the midst of all this.

All those who are not safe and in danger of losing their home and livelihoods are in my prayers. I wish I could do more at this time. But I'm afraid prayers are the best thing I can do this far away. It's sobering. Please keep those suffering in your thoughts and prayers, and if you are able, make a donation to the Red Cross or the Louisiana Wildlife Rehabilitators Association (there are many animals' welfare at stake too).

Give and Get is Here!

Give and Get is Here!: "Enjoy 30% off from August 26-29 at Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy and we'll donate 5% of what you spend to a non-profit."

The Death of Michael's Shag

How did we start off Memorial Day this year?
By giving Michael a haircut!

He was a little distressed after working for about 6 months to get his hair so long!

Yes, there was a bit of a mullet in the process.

Getting closer to the end...

Oops, we forgot one long strand. He looks kind of like an emo punk.

It's all gone!

Look at all that hair. We cut off about 4 inches worth...yuck!

Cleaning up the mess. Looking like a "Molly Mormon". What a great day!

Food Revolution

I don't know if any of you are familiar with Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution on ABC.

You should be.

This amazing chef is trying to make a difference for our future and the future of generations to come.


He needs our help as Americans.

Sign this petition that will be taken to the President and First Lady and will hopefully be a small, but pivotal step into revolutionizing the school lunch system.

Our Drive Home

So this afternoon we spent with Michael's family at his parent's house in Taylorsville. It was fun, relaxing, and nice, but that's not the point of this post. I must tell you what happened as we were driving back home to Logan.

We were heading northbound on I-15 around the Willard area when we noticed this beat-up Toyota weaving in and out of its lane. And when I saw weaving, I mean the car would ride over the line on one side, then the other. Also, the car would not maintain a steady speed, slowing down then speeding up. Over and over.

So we decided to pass the car. As we were pulling up next to it, we noticed the driver was texting. And it was blatant. Phone up, in hand, blue light on face, eyes darting from the road to the phone.

We immediately decided that this was dangerous and that we wanted to report it to the police. So, I called 411 (the Verizon information service) and they were able to connect me to police dispatch. I gave the information of the car, driver, license plate, mile marker and such. The dispatch worker thanked me and told me she would send the information right out to patrol officers.

Now, I don't know if the officers were able to find the vehicle and pull the man over, which I hope they were. But Michael and I knew that we couldn't just let such a reckless driver continue on in the night without reporting it. So many people's lives have been lost due to texting. Our opinion is, if someone wants to jeopardize his own life, that's fine. But don't risk taking some innocent person's life as a result of your stupidity.

We hope that this man made it to his destination safely and that maybe, someday, he will realize the risks associated with his actions and halt such reckless behavior. Life is too precious and too short to make decisions that can hurt yourself or others.

Lucky Find

While Michael and I were in Logan yesterday for a dear friend's wedding, we remembered that we needed to do a bit of grocery shopping before heading back to Layton. We stopped at Smith's Marketplace to pick up a few items, and while we were walking through the meat section, Michael noticed a 20-dollar bill on the floor. It looked like it had been run over a few times with shopping carts, and probably trampled under several pairs of feet. We looked around for an owner, but there was no one in sight.

It's always hard to know what to do in this kind of situation where you don't see anyone actually drop their money right in front of you. We knew that we didn't need or want to keep it for ourselves though. It was also quite a decent amount that we knew someone would really be in need of. So, we decided that when we reached the register, we would keep our ears open and our eyes peeled for anyone who realized that they lost $20. If we didn't notice anything, then we would put the money in a charity donation box by the register.

We reached the register and proceeded to check out, not hearing or seeing anything that would clue us in to the owner of the money, so we placed the $20 in the box for Primary Children's Medical Center. Not even 1 minute later, did Michael overhear the lady in the line next to us exclaim in confusion and frustration that she couldn't find the 20-dollar bill she had brought in the store with her. He turned around and asked to confirm if she had lost her money, making sure he heard her correctly. She was the owner of the $20! We told her that we didn't know what to do if we didn't hear anything, so we just put it in the donation box at our register. We asked the cashier, who saw us put the money in, if the box could be opened and the lady given her money back. They found the key and the $20 was returned to its sweet and grateful owner.

What a blessing it was to take part in this bit of service and make someone's day brighter. I'm so glad that Michael listened closely and was able to hear this young mother's exclamation, pinpointing to whom the money belonged. It is my hope that we'll always be willing to choose the right and be examples of Christ in our everyday encounters with his children.