Nature Walks and Talks

Dear Mal,     I find it kind of hilarious that it took me like a week to make the time to respond to your blog about how busy we are and how we need more rest. I've been so busy! Which our society really does need to stop using as some kind of badge of honor. I did listen to that radio west episode, and loved it.   Last weekend,  I got to make a road trip out to Portland, and it had all the ingredients of soul satisfaction: beautiful scenery, fresh air, hiking, family. great food, sunshine, and some good road trippin tunes. Going someplace new and being able to soak it all in was the rest that I needed.  I often find that I need a rest from the mundane. I think that's one reason I love listening to podcasts so much, they are always teaching me something new and different,  even if I'm doing something old and the same,  like laundry, or cleaning babies bottoms (which honestly I don't mind,  Ivy's fat little baby bum is just adorable, ha ha). ...

Dear Meg, Yesterday was my 10th anniversary! Wahoo! Also, it snowed today. Crazy Utah spring! Also, it's been exactly one month since I last wrote to you on our blog. Unrelated observations. And there's the first part of my letter, which gets me out of deciding what else to title this one, thank goodness, because it's late and my brain is fried!!! Ok, so today I was listening to our good friend Doug Fabrizio and he was talking with the scholar Alex Soojung-Kim Pang about the importance of rest. Great episode, by the way, if you need something to listen to. It made me think about my battle with rest. As moms we need rest from life, don't we? It's taxing taking care of a home, paying the bills, (trying to have enough money to pay the bills), buying the food, making the food, dressing, undressing, bathing, changing, and cleaning poop off the little ones, AND on top of all of that, just doing normal things like exercising and showering while making sure tho...