10 minutes.

I love knowing that no matter what I am doing, within 10 minutes I can be here.

I drive up here every Thursday while Gladys has one of her appointments. I thought I should document the snow before it all melts. It's so beautiful here.

The General.

I am watching Band of Brothers again. It is such a well made mini-series and it makes me appreciate everyone in the armed forces. If you haven't seen it, you should. It gives you such a good picture of what the 101st Airborne went through throughout the course of WWII.

I love listening to the personal interviews before each episode and hearing the real "boys" tell their personal account. It's crazy to me that all of those young men were so ready and willing to fight when the war started. One young man was denied from the Airforce and Navy because of eye problems so he jumped at the chance to be in the Airborne.

Airborne forces are military units, usually light infantry, set up to be moved by aircraft and 'dropped' into battle. Thus they can be placed behind enemy lines, and have an ability to deploy almost anywhere with little warning. The formations are limited only by the number and size of their aircraft, so given enough capacity a huge force can appear "out of nowhere" in minutes, an action referred to as vertical envelopment.

I jacked this definition from wikipedia. The crazy thing to me is that they are trained to be dropped into enemy lines at any time. In Band of Brothers, at one point another commander is hesitant to have the men stationed in an area where they will be surrounded by the enemy. Richard Winters who is one of the great commanders of Easy Company replies, "We're Paratroopers, we are supposed to be surrounded." They were such a tough group of men. I hope there are still boys out there today with that same courage and patriotism.

Last night BYU was lucky enough to have General Patraeus come and speak about the middle east. I don't know a lot about him, but I have seen him in the news and from what I have heard he is an honorable man and a great General, a four star General to be exact and the current commander of the U.S. Central Command. After listening to him last night I felt so proud to be an American and I felt so at peace with knowing that this man was protecting our country. I loved seeing the Airborne patch on his shoulder and thinking about the young men under his command.

'Some Iraqis gave Petraeus the nickname 'King David', which was later adopted by some of his colleagues. Newsweek has stated that "It's widely accepted that no force worked harder to win Iraqi hearts and minds than the 101st Air Assault Division led by Petraeus."'

I wish I could have met him. He's on my list.

Thanks for this Jo

The end kills me EVERYTIME!

2 things.

1- Sunday is the big health care vote. Say your prayers everyone, no matter if you are for or against. I'm getting the same nervous feeling that I got on election day. I'll say it once more, say your prayers.

2- I try not to get wrapped up in celebrity gossip, but lets be serious, we all are kind of curious about their stupid crap. I have a mom and sister that make sure that I am updated instantly on major celebrity news updates. I have received the following phone calls from my mom, "Riana, MICHEAL JACKSON IS DEAD!!". "Riana, did you hear about Heath?!!!". "Riana, turn on the tv!! Brad Pitt and Jennifer Anniston split up!!" And yesterday Janelle called with the Sandra Bullock news. I have to say that I honestly feel bad for her! I'm being for real, I feel really sad when I think about it. I watched the golden globes and the last half hour of the oscars and I heard her acceptance speeches where she praised him and talked about how lucky she was to have someone that finally had her back. Ugh... normally I really don't care about this stuff at all but they were on my list of celebrity marriages that I had a little hope for.

Needless to say, guys are pigs, most of them anyways. I wish all the best for Miss Bullock.

I hope Will and Jada, Jerry Seinfeld and wife and Jay and Mavis keep going strong. They are the only celebrity marriages that I still have hope for. I hope the rest of them prove me wrong.

I want to do a lot of things right now.

*I want to finish sewing my quilt, but my sewing machine is broken and in Logan.

*I want to ride my bike, but it is in Logan.

*I want to longboard so so bad, but I left my board at my parents house and I'm trapped in with Glad for the night.

*I want to play with a Swissy but I can never find one.

*I want to eat a smore over a fire but Glad only has fake fireplaces.

Ugh...

On a different note, this handsome man has kept me entertained today. I like this show. You should watch Chuck.

Juje, I'm talking to you.

I think cows really are happier in California.

I saw some on my trip and they looked pretty dang satisfied.

I've missed the sunshine SO BAD!!! I forgot what it felt like to be warm. Thank you California for reminding me.

Vacations are so wonderful. I decided that I need more beach in my life.

Highlights of the trip:

*Highway 1 along the coast. Best thing Ever!

*Seeing dolphins 10 feet from my boogie board.

*Being with the gnomes on the beach.

*Eating tangerines straight off the trees.

*Seeing old friends.

*Smelling blossoms.

*Having money spending contests with Natalie.

*Eating so much food and most importantly, extra fresh fish.

*Realizing how crazy the Laemmlens are... (now I know why I'm so weird).

*Having dog parties on the farm.

*Point Loma. Look that college up.

*Seeing my dad hyper.

*Sun.

*Sand.

*Sun.

Blossom Trail

Blossoms. Trails. Bees.

This is where my family will be in t-minus 2 days.

I am from a part of California that is also known as "The Worlds Fruit Basket."

My Great Grandpa settled in Reedley shortly after leaving Germany after WWI and became a fruit farmer. He had studied farming in Germany and put it to good use here in the states. The farm has been passed down to my Grandpa and now to my Uncle. Growing up with fresh fruit EVERYWHERE was nothing short of lovely. Some of my favorite memories growing up were going out to the packing shed and watching the fruit come down the conveyor belts and picking out the perfect one to eat. That or picking them right off the trees. My Grandpas farm was so huge to me as a kid. The trees went on as far as the eye could see. He grew peaches, plums, nectarines, oranges and tangerines.

We are going back for a visit on Friday and I can't wait. There sadly won't be any fruit ready but the blossoms should be ready for us. The San Joaquin Valley is known for the Blossom Trail. People come from all over to see it. The whole valley smells like blossoms (which can be a good or bad thing depending on your sense of smell). And everything is pink and white. It's beautiful.