I had the best day ever...

...because my absolutely gorgeous friend Naomi so graciously invited me to see her and her unbelievably dashing husband speak at their church. It was humbling and beautiful and really moving to see what makes the Mormon faith and culture so special. I think its unbelievably courageous and nothing short of an act of love to stand up in front of a group of people (strangers and friends alike) and reveal yourself. To share your beliefs, dreams, hopes, regrets, thoughts, reflections, and thanks. So thank you for sharing that with me.

And then something truly remarkable happened. We made pizza. Naomi is a domestic goddess. She claims she isn't but my keen eye sees otherwise. I mean c'mon she made the dough from scratch. That's right, scratch. And then when she realized she didn't have a rolling pin, did she panic? No, no. A lesser woman might have. But not Naomi. She opened the cupboard pulled out a drinking glass and started rolling away. 

The only thing better than seeing this woman in action was seeing it while she recounted the unfinished love story that is her and Josh. Oh yeah...and there were some chocolate chip cookies involved. That might have helped. 

I laughed and marveled and satiated my bottomless pit. It was a good day. A very, very good day.

so she waved her wand and came up with this...

good lookin' cookin'

voila... (okay, so maybe it looks kinda scary, but I think its just the angle of the photo)

besides, the beauty of the table more than made up for it

naomi, you are a goddess. look at this picture. now look at how thin my arm looks. thank you, oh thank you!

the father face strikes again. ah, will I ever have a normal picture? josh looks normal, what's wrong with me?

what's this you ask? i'll tell you...

...only one of my favorite parts of the day.

Naomi taught me that to avoid the tears onions undoubtedly bring on (always) one should just keep a piece of bread in your mouth. I wondered at this. My mother had shown me a way to stop the tears...run your hands under cold water. But to avoid them altogether? Impossible. Or was it? Well... the jury's still out. We tried, but this is how it went down.

Bread in mouth.

Attempted conversation...garggled sounds....giggles...laughter. Bread removed. Translation of noises. Followed by tears. 

Oh, the tears!

So next time, we'll keep the bread in the whole time. I have a good feeling about it. I think she might just be right.

So thank you Naomi. Thank you Josh. Thanks for being my friends. 

La, la, la...my life is really good!