The Midwest Experience: Columbus, Indiana

On Saturday we took a small road trip down to Columbus, IN. It's only about 45 minutes south of here, which is never an issue of distance for me - that's the equivalent of Cedar to St. George, which my friends and I frequently drove for a Cafe Rio salad or a line dancing fix.

Initially we planned on going for the one day showing of The Saratov Approach, a movie that I've heard a lot of good things about from friends and family back in Utah. But we had also heard multiple times that we needed to see the architecture in Columbus, so we added in a tour to our excursion. I'm so glad we did - it ended up being the best part of the day. For the full experience you should make your way there some day! But for the partial experience, read on...

To give you an idea of how impressive the design in this city of 44,000 is, you should know that they are ranked 6th in the nation for architectural design and innovation. The five cities ahead of them are New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston and Washington D.C. And then, Columbus, IN. Crazy hidden gem, right? Our tour had 5 people on it that day: the two of us, our two friends Chris and Kristin, and a furniture designer from Denmark who came here just to research and tour. Our guide said she frequently has designers and architects coming from Europe and all over, because Columbus is on their bucket list.

Pictured above is the First Christian Church, which was built in 1942 and was the first contemporary building in Columbus - and one of the first churches in American to be built in contemporary style. There is so much asymmetry there, which was almost unheard of among church buildings at that time. The cross, the altar, even the clock on the tower outside are all off center and balanced with other elements. There is so much natural light in the chapel, and the hanging lamps you see on the right are in the style of Christian oil lamps.

This is a close up of a door in the First Christian Church. If you could see it closer, you'd notice that every single screw is turned with the line exactly vertical. Details like that were all over inside. The architect, Saarinen, was hesitant to build the church at first but was then intrigued by this request from the reverend's daughter:

"Our town is small and there are all sorts and conditions of men. While we should like the church to be beautiful, we do not want the first reaction to be, how much did the church cost. We want the poorest women in town to feel at home there and able to worship her God in those surroundings."

He was told that the church should show that the people in Columbus were focused on a rich inner life and a simple outer life. So, the minimalist modern design came to be, and put Columbus on a forward-thinking path. Cummins, Inc. is headquartered in Columbus, and a program began in which the Cummins company would pay architects' fees if the client would select an architect from a list provided by J. Irwin Miller (the CEO of Cummins behind the initiative). So, schools, businesses, the hospital, the post office - they are all art. Guys, even the jail is beautiful. There are also public art pieces throughout the city that bring a lot of character.
 

Our tour guide was adorable. She was living in Columbus, OH when she and her husband visited Columbus, IN for a weekend. They went on the architecture tour and loved the city so much that they moved there just three months later. And now she's volunteering as a tour guide on the tour she loved back in 2000. The tour is a two-hour bus ride with stops in the First Christian Church and the hospital. There were countless sites to learn about - just glance at the list of National Historic Landmarks in the city and you'll get an idea.

Lincoln Park in Columbus is a beautifully landscaped public space with an amphitheater, pond, observation tower, playgrounds, skate park, etc. It used to be nicknamed "Death Valley" because it was basically a swampy mess, but volunteers from the community cleaned it up and then it was landscaped into a beautiful hilly area. We are so ready to take our bikes down there! The snow was beautiful, but we're definitely looking forward to going back down on a day with more sun, and more green.

Our tour ended full circle at the visitor's center, where the "Yellow Neon Chandelier" hangs, designed by Dale Chihuly. It was a gift to the town, and hangs beautifully over the staircase at the center. So many gems throughout Columbus!

This arch was sandcast in 50 sections in Germany, then arrived in Columbus in one piece. It stands in the library plaza, and if you catch the right angle it perfectly frames the First Christian Church and clock tower.

After two hours of architectural wonder, we went to lunch at Zaharakos, an ice cream parlor and museum. One of the best parts was a restored Orchestrion from the 1870s that played us loud, incredible tunes while we ate and tried to hear each other. You can read about the restoration of it here, which is intensive and fascinating. Another music machine is pictured above - this one had banjos. We were just having a lot of fun in there.

They also have a collection of marble soda fountains. Aren't they so pretty? Now I am questioning the legitimacy of the year of my life I spent working at an ice cream parlor/soda fountain in Cedar City. It just didn't compare, guys. But we did have killer Providence Crunch ice cream which you don't even know about because it was a signature recipe that now no longer exists. So at least there's that.

We had so much fun exploring Columbus that day. After the tour and fountain, we went to an early showing of The Saratov Approach with a few other friends who drove down from Indy. I thought the movie was great, and it made me realize how out of the loop kids are. How do I not remember missionaries being kidnapped in Russia? I feel like I was old enough then to at least be aware of it. But I was just playing with my friends, eating Providence Crunch ice cream. That's probably exactly what I should have been doing, actually.

So that was our Columbus day! Definitely a highlight of our midwest adventuring. Come visit :)

Doubt Your Doubts

We spent a rainy weekend watching this. That happens twice a year for us, and it is far and away the most relaxing two weekends of my year - more so because of the words I hear and love I feel rather than the sweat pants I spend my entire weekend wearing. But the sweats most definitely play their role.

Sometimes words are spoken that resonate completely and significantly with every listening person. You almost feel it, that collective resonance. On Saturday, I felt like that happened with this simple sentence:

Those are strong words. Maybe because even the strongest of people need to hear them. Sometimes we turn doubts into something to hold onto. Some sort of rock that we think provides strength because it pushes against something we thought we knew to be true, something we had faith in. So you size up this new doubt and realize that if you stand behind it, it can be quite effective. You no longer have to face what you knew. You just stand there, letting that doubt stand there taller than you, and you begin to believe it is solid.

But doubts are not made of anything lasting. Faith is forever. Truth is forever. I believe that questions are important, and they deserve respect. I believe that people with questions are important, and they deserve respect. But building a question into a doubt, and purposefully leaning on that more than faith, will not lead to happiness. Doubting faith before doubting doubts is intentional, and will not ultimately lead to true understanding. 

So, doubt what you don't know before you doubt what you know. These words are so true across the board, right? 

What if they were applied to every person in your life? Doubt what you don't know about them (assumptions about motives, circumstances) before you doubt what you know (they are a child of God, they deserve love, there is something you can do to make them happier). 

What if it was applied to how you think about yourself, and your abilities? Doubt what you don't know (what if taking a chance doesn't work out? What if I can't do it?) before you doubt what you know (I am a child of God. There are things working together for my good. If I do my best while following the Lord, things will work out. I know enough).

That really is the key. We don't know everything, but we know enough. So why is dwelling on what we don't know better than dwelling on what we do?

It's not.

Especially in a world like ours.

There were plenty of other wonderful things about this weekend. But the almost palpable effect this simple sentence had just really struck me. And it seems like now more than ever is the time to focus on simple truths, rather than complex questions and doubts.

So with two inches off my hair, and two days of messages from living prophets, I'm just feeling a lot lighter over here. And that's a cherished feeling.

How to: DIY Painted Moroccan Wall

We have a tiny kitchen, and a tiny budget, but I still like pretty things. So, I found some inspiration and got to work on my very bleak and blank canvas that was our kitchen: a DIY Painted Moroccan Wall.

Disclaimer: I started this project in January (yes, January), before this pattern started showing up everywhere. On everything. So maybe I'm ahead of the times, maybe I'm super trendy... but mostly I just kind of feel like one of the slowest painting members of the masses. Dang it. 

But we love the wall and that's all that matters. So here's the breakdown of the painting experience:

I knew I wanted something busy that could be the focal point of the kitchen, because it's a large blank space with not a lot of furniture coverage. I considered stripes, but I'm trying to kick my addiction. Or at least cut back. So after finding the Moroccan pattern, I knew it would be just what I was looking for.

First I painted the wall with two layers of a satin finish light grey. Menard's did a great job matching my chosen paint sample to their cheapest brand of paint, making it $14 instead of the brand name $35. Apparently my natural taste in paint is expensive. (Also in boots. See my last post.) Sigh.

After giving the paint plenty of time to dry, I gathered my small set of supplies. All it took to make the Moroccan design was: the smallest size can of white paint with a gloss finish (I wanted contrast against the satin), a paintbrush that was the width of the line size I was going for, a pencil, a level, and this free printable stencil, traced onto cardboard. I already had everything but the paint, so the total cost of the design: $3. I had thought about doing wallpaper or even saving money by wallpapering with gift wrap, but I just couldn't refuse doing the whole project for just $3. (And soooo many man hours, but I have a lot more of those than dollars at this point in my life.)

Then, the stencil process started. At first I contemplated only doing five lines of shapes down the wall, about one third of the way in, so I started there in case I liked the look of it. I held the stencil in the middle of the wall vertically, then worked up and down from there - I checked horizontally and vertically with the level every time I traced the stencil shape. Then, once I had connected the shapes from ceiling to floor, I painted along the outside of the line using the width of the brush for consistency. After finishing just a few lines, I knew I wanted to paint the entire wall.

Each line had to be double coated for the right color, and it took me 45 minutes almost to the second for every vertical line. That's why it looked the way it does in the picture above for quite a while...half-finished. I took lots of breaks when it came to getting this wall done. My hours between getting off work and going to bed just somehow disappear? So I just took my sweet time with this :)

During the painting process, we found a new dining set and kitchen cabinet from Craigslist land. I loved the lighter wood but I felt like the wall started to overshadow all the other blank space in the kitchen. Plus, our old black curtains kind of sucked out the happiness that the cute busy wall brought in.

So, I found some floral material on clearance to make into smaller curtains, and just used $4 tension rods from Bed Bath & Beyond in the window frame, rather than the heavy hardware that used to be above the doors. I lined the middle shelf of the cabinet with the extra floral material to match, and lined the other shelves with a striped material for contrast. I love the mix of patterns with matching colors - it turned out better than I planned, because I never really had a plan :) That's the beauty of depending on Craigslist and a small, small budget!

Here's our kitchen, before and after. I can't believe how long we lived with that empty blank kitchen. Moving in is such a process. Or else I'm just really slow and indecisive when it comes to decorating...can't be helped.

From start to finish, painting this wall took almost exactly 24 of my life's hours. A whole day. I'm feeling totally ok with that - it has brightened up that kitchen every day since I [finally] finished it! The curtains were my first and hopefully last sewing project for this apartment. I have never learned how to sew very well, so it gives me anxiety. But lining the shelves with material, I can handle that! Considering no sewing is involved, and I used sticky tack in case I get sick of the material :) I know the way I like to change things around often, so I can't make things too permanent.

Except for the wall. That wall will be a Moroccan wall for the rest of its life, even if I have to pay the next tenants to let it live. Since the wall pattern cost a total of $3, I think I'm ok with that.

For My Grandma

My grandma left a legacy. Just by the way she lived her life and spent her time. That woman brightened days and sun tanned her arms like no one else. You could always find her laying outside on the grass, just loving the sunshine and loving life. You could find her out there even when it got to the point that she demanded "don't watch me get up, now." She loved Deseret, Utah. Loved its water, loved its people. Loved life there.

Deseret loved her back. Cleo Eliason belonged there, as much as the river did, and the farm. She kneaded dough on her counters while looking out her windows over swinging grandkids and drying laundry. She watched those grandkids and her flowers grow with pride.

I remember making scones with her. She was never afraid of that hot oil, so I stretched out my dough and pretended I wasn't, either. We'd make sure both sides were a perfect golden brown, she always made things just right. Especially things made of dough. She baked rolls that smelled just like home to me. She made them in the middle of the night, when my grandpa passed away. That's how she dealt with things: Work hard. Make things. Give.

She loved her cats. Never too many at once, but there was always at least one around. Figaro, Phoebe, a neighbor's kitten. I remember when my grandpa saw some scratches on her arm, from the very kitten he had rescued from a tree at grandma's request:

"Did that cat do that to you?" He asked her, stern as ever. "Oh, Lincoln. It's just a baby," she replied, which was the way she described that cat up through its entire adult life. "That cat scratched you?" he said, "I can take care of that." And away he went to his closet. I remember watching him come back down the hall with his shotgun and a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth. Grandma overlooked the latter, you didn't usually catch him trying to hold back a grin, and she went straight into defense mode. "Lincoln! Don't you touch that cat! It's just a baby!" Then with just a wink at me and a chuckle at her, he was done with his joke. He loved getting a rise out of her. And, he didn't really love that cat.

She always wanted us to be learning, working, growing, appreciating. She'd pay me a quarter to do a page of math problems when I stayed at her house over the summers. Or a quarter for writing a letter to a cousin serving a mission. Even a quarter to play her some songs on the piano, but I always let that one slide for free. She was the best audience. Her eyes would close, she'd rock on her love seat, and hum a little. She was always humming a little, actually. Humming her constant tune as she sort of shuffled around her sweet house, tidying up. Always happy.

Sleeping in was never approved of at grandma's house. But even for the late risers, she always had cocoa and toast ready and some sweet sincere sarcasm about your wake up time. She was always up before the dawn, with work to do and people to help and life to enjoy. That woman was busy. Busy with all the right things.

She left this world peacefully today, leaving behind family who completely love her to be with family she's been missing. I know her husband was there waiting for her, and two of her eleven sweet children that should never have left before her. That woman will be missed, by so many. But we all know she's watching over us now. There's nothing else she'd rather be doing.

I love you, Grandma Eliason. I'll be missing you, while I keep learning to be more like you. 

Thank you for being such a blessing to me.

Just a Thought

Enough said.
I miss him.