Lost in the World Wildlife Museum in St. George

We had fun at the World Wildlife Museum in St. George.

 There are lots of stuffed animals from a lot of places around the planet.

(Which planet? Well, maybe you'll have to go see for yourself!)

 What do you do when you see a polar bear looking over your shoulder?

 You might scream.

 Or you might show it who's boss, like my little sister Carolyn did.

 They offer cool little electronic wands that let you type in the number on the display and listen to the description at your own pace.

 Even if the camel on the second floor wants to listen in, he can't. He has to get his own wand.

 It's not so much what you see, but what you think of it.

In my world, making friends with a bear is better than being eaten by one.

Just sayin'.

Do you like the outdoors?

Do you like wildlife? 

Even An Old Barn Looks Better Painted

Sometimes I tell my family that I need to "put my face on."

Lest you imagine me peeling the skin from my skull each night and gluing it back on in the morning, let me explain.

If celebrities can have pictures of them circulating the Internet without makeup, then why not me? We all look fairly ordinary without our face paint.

LDS Church President David O. McKay is quoted to have said, “Even a barn looks better when it’s painted.” 

Picture A

He didn't say anything about fixing a barn's hair, but when you compare picture A with picture B, you might notice that I did that, too.

 Picture B

In picture B, I have what would be my pioneer woman face and hair. (Well, the hair would probably be pinned up on my head if I lived a couple of hundred years ago, but when I do that, my face looks like a big, round pancake, so I don't do it a whole lot.)

The thing is, I don't have to look at myself, so I can feel just as beautiful inside as I want to whether I have makeup on or not.

I heard that Queen Elizabeth 1 (the first) took all the mirrors out of her castle when she started to look old. That way, she always felt as beautiful as she wanted, because there was no evidence to the contrary!

I sometimes think that would be a good rule of thumb (why in the heck is it a "rule of thumb?" Why isn't a "rule of pinky" instead?) for more of us to look outward and feel good about ourselves, rather than obsess over our appearance.

One time my husband, Bob, found a Facebook page of a lady who constantly posted new profile pictures of herself with kissy faces and pouty lips and 3/4 glamour poses. She was quite pretty, but my husband's only comment was, "Is she full of herself, or what?"

I don't know if I'm "full of myself" when I put my face on, but it only takes me about 5 minutes, unless my mascara is ornery and gets in my eye or smears my cheek. Then it might take 10 minutes.

The last thing I'll mention about Bob is that he says 90% of a woman's beauty is her smile.

(So put on a happy face.)

So do you like to get made up, (or shaved and combed, if you're a guy) in the morning?

Or do you prefer to just hop out of bed as God made you and head out for your day's adventures?

A Tecklace? Or a Nie?

It's made of beads and worn around the neck, so it's a necklace, right?

But the shape isn't quite right. It's shaped more like a tie.

Verrry interesting.

The young man who sported this most interesting neckwear said it was made in Africa. No knotting necessary!

There's got to be something beneficial for the necktie-necklace wearers in that.

Do you like to wear adornments around your neck?

Six Year Old Fingernail Polish Style

When my six-year-old granddaughter asked to paint my fingernails, I said, "Sure." I've got nail polish remover if needed. It's all good.

But when she whipped out her impressively large bucket of paints, she ended up putting a different color on each fingernail. 

I found it rather difficult to take a picture of all ten of my fingers by myself, since I am not acquainted withe the timed photo mechanism on my phone (that's technologically smarter than me) so I asked people to help document the occasion.

Then it turned out that I liked the look so much (I mean, it goes with EVERYTHING!) that when the art faded, I got myself some fingernail polish for my own palette and re-did the artwork.

Not knowing how long it takes nail polish to dry (UP TO TWO HOURS, PEOPLE!) I also managed to texturize my polish job, which felt weird when my fingers rubbed against certain textures.

Back to the nail polish remover.

There was also a problem with chipping a day or two after application.

Introduce clear top coat!

So now me and my new fingernail friends are having a colorful time heading into 2018.

What are you doing new for the new year?

A New Year's Resolution I Can Keep

New Year's Resolution: to have Six Amazing, Astounding, Exceptional, Lovable Sons.

I can do that.

(Resolution kept!)

They don't look much alike, do they?

It's interesting how the siblings of some families resemble one another, like the brothers and sisters I grew up with. ("You're an Anderson, aren't you?" People I didn't even know would often say to me.) And then there are families like the one I have, with an interesting variety of features.

Does your family look alike?

Where do you come in your family lineup? (Which number of kid are you?)