A Good Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day everyone! As many of you know today is my favorite day of the year. It is truly my favorite holiday. You may also remember that I have started the tradition of going to Yellowstone with my siblings and going to Malad Cemetery. Well I was not able to do that this year and my heart aches for it. But today ended pretty good.

It started off with me trying to sleep in. I made it until 7:44 am. I got up and started my day. Dan was still sleeping. He is a good sleeper in. But to my surprise he got up shortly after me. I had assumed he would sleep for several more hours and made me a bowl of cereal for breakfast. Dan who is lactose intolerant does not prefer cereal. Since it is Memorial Day and he is a veteran I made him whatever he wanted. I made Danish pancakes (ball pancakes) for added specialness I put a little strawberry jam in the middle of each ball. He loved them.

Then Dan proceeded to work on a paper for one of his classes. I did the dishes, wrote in my journal, read my scriptures, watched Family Fued and then Dan asks me if I was going to get around to mowing the lawn. I flipped out. I was so mad. So I go out there and mow the lawn and rake up all the grass. My feet were in flip flops and now they are green. So I was upset because today is my favorite day of the year and I was not having fun. So I decided I am responsible for my own happiness. I then washed my feet and told Dan goodbye and left. (Note Mt Hood in the distance of this picture--it is 5,000 feet above sea level which is impressive since Portland is about 300 feet above sea level).

I ended up going to a mall. I got some lipgloss and some new shirts. By now it has been about 2 hours and I am not mad anymore. I text Dan and ask him if I can take him to lunch. We go to lunch and then come home and take a nap. It was lovely.

Then Dan went to work. I went on the hunt for Reef flip flops and a cemetery to honor the military men and women. I found the Willamette National Cemetery. It had tons of soldiers from each war buried here. There was a lot of traffic which was touching to me. I am glad people came to honor their loved ones. I just walked around until I was done. I took tons of pics. Here are a few. There are flags and more flags and then some more flags. It was beautiful. I am so honored to have a husband who serves our country with such honor and pride. I am proud of my brother Dave and am so thankful for his service. I am glad for all men and women who sacrifice their lives for my freedoms. I am thankful for one pharmacy technician who left with his unit of the National Guard just last week for a tour in Afghanistan--I got his job. It is an honor to have served our country.

While I was taking pictures Dan called and the A/C is broken at work. So I ran and got slushies from DQ for him and the girls he was working with. Then I attempted to go home. The freeway going into the city was packed with trucks, boats, campers, 4 wheelers. Everyone is returning home from this wonderful weekend. It has truly been a wonderful weekend. I am so glad I made it a memorial Memorial Day.

Just to let you know Portland is having the Rose Festival for the next 2 weeks and 3 weekends. There are tons of events planned. Friday was the opening night and Dan and I went downtown to see the fireworks which were some of the best I have ever seen. It was wonderful. There is a little waterfront village set up with carnival rides and corn dogs etc. It was free for Military and their families-just to get in not the rides and food etc. So we enjoyed ourselves. Then we attempted to ride the Max (light rail) home. Everyone was doing the same thing. It took 5 trains before we got smooshed onto one. It was amazing I felt like a Japanese commuter where they have workers with white gloves shoving people in tighter and tighter. We were very smooshed into the train. We were full body contact with everyone. It was quite the adventure for me. Dan was laughing at me and my uncomfortableness. Luckily he tried to be the only one pressing up against me. I have such a good hearted husband.

I also spoke in church on Sunday. It was a fairly good talk if I do say so myself. I had the hardest time writing it. So at 6 am Sunday morning I am at the computer and I get 3 pages single spaced. I think that is enough for 15 min. I did not time it. Well I did the whole thing in 8 minutes. I started rambling to fill up the time since there was only one other speaker. I make it to 15 by rambling on about teeth. The topic was how we can fortify our lives--so I nerded out about how to fortify our teeth. Pretty lame but I think it worked. I was laughing at myself at a pulpit talking about teeth.

I also watched a movie called 'Lost in Austen' it is a different version of Pride and Prejudice. It was hilarious. If you get a chance to rent it do it. It is a delightful rendition of the beloved Collin Firth classic!! Anyway, it has been a wonderful weekend and I hope you all enjoyed this loveliest of holidays.