The Strangeness of Beauty

I'm reading The Strangeness of Beauty by Lydia Minatoya. It is a Japanese-American literary novel. I am loving the international-type literature lately. It always has the most interesting stories and cultural facts, I think. This book has a scene where the Japanese are leaving for America on a boat. They have a long roll of paper that they throw down to their parents, holding onto the end so that the paper unrolls between them... until it runs out. She described it so much better than me, but it was such a beautiful image! And there are so many other beautiful Japanese traditions and cultural things that make it so interesting to me. It doesn't really have an obvious plot--it just kind of flows along. But I really like that it isn't throwing some major conflict/resolution stuff at me. It is just how life is. She is describing a life. I really like that. I think there is a lot of wisdom in this book too. For example, "I have noticed that when people tell their own stories, often it has less to do with wanting to communicate an idea to another than with clarifying an emotion for themselves." Isn't she right? Anyway, I would recommend this book, obviously. Yay for being done with finals!!! yay for fun reading!

Christmas Tradition

We have a tree!It has presents around it now though.

Raimo and I did one of our Christmas traditions last night--went ice skating at the Gallivan Center. The funny thing is, Raimo was the only one who skated. And he only got to circle the rink about 4 or 5 times. He looked great though, see?



We went to Hire's before, also part of the tradition. I got a rueben. OMG so good. Anyway, it took a long time to get our food. And we didn't realize the rink closes at 9 pm mid-week and we got there at 8:55. So... I was okay with that. Luckily Raimo has his own skates so I told him to pop em on for a few minutes. It still counts as following the tradition.

Then we went and looked at lights around Temple Square. They were beautiful. There were also a lot of blue lights on the trees in Salt Lake that were cool. I think lights on trees are my favorite, especially red ones.
Also here's an update from last weekend:





He likes to dance for me.
I told Raimo to keep watching the road and I would take a picture. But he decided to look at the camera, and I am watching the road. That doesn't make any sense.

Trip to Vegas with our friends Ryan and Ana Maria. Fun weekend
My new car

paper cutter

Some day I want a paper cutter. You know, when I have a craft room some day. I used one today and it was like a vision. I even cut cardboard on it. Wow! How much time have I wasted trying to cut in straight lines for projects or for scrapbooks when I could have a nifty thing to do it for me! I'm sure my professor will be impressed with all those clean lines.

Since I came home from Thanksgiving, some switch has been turned on in my brain and I have been going full-steam in my school work (complete shift from THIS post). Actually, I think there was no other option really, it being the end of the semester and all. We now have three more days of class left and then a week of finals. Crunch time. I had forgotten how good it feels to get so much done in one day. Don't get me wrong--I'm totally ready to return to my lazy senioritis state as soon as I knock out that last final!

Brag time. Raimo has made so many sales. He really has! His team makes all these goals each month, and he always meets and exceeds them. His group made a team goal that they would sell a certain amount between August and November, and if they did they'd all get new flatscreens. When the rest of the team didn't appear to be as motivated, Raimo made a bet with his boss that he could make 50 % of the group's goal all by himself! He has until the end of next week, and he is really really close to that goal! At this point, I care less about the TV, though it would be nice. I'm just amazed at how it has pushed him and how motivated he has been. I have seen a new side of my husband--a real determined side. Let's see what else it has won him this semester:With which he bought...

Wow. Tonight he is out door-to-door in the snow, bless his heart. I hate snow. Without fail, it always ends up looking like this:

It is just a pain! Especially walking everywhere. I always feel bad for all the shovelers all over campus. There is one nice thing about snow--it has this romantic thing that it does. It makes everything quiet. And I'm not talking about how quietly snow falls, although that is really amazing too. I like how it just muffles all the noise a little bit when it is still light and on the ground. It makes everything a little quieter and gives everything a little glow. I like how that feels.

BUT that doesn't make up for much!

I digress. Raimo is selling in it. See? He is so devoted. We got to spend the afternoon together in our now decorated apartment. It was fun--we just snuggled. He was just being so cute. Our Christmas lights inside make it seem so much more cheery.

Really, I don't need a paper cutter. I am so happy.