Secrets of the Travel Office Snowflakes Revealed

When I worked at the BYU Travel Office, we solved all your travel needs.  We also cut snowflakes.

And by cutting snowflakes, we came across something divine.  

Michelangelo saw the angel in the marble and carved to set him free.  

We saw snowflakes in our paper and cut to set them free.

Sometimes the snowflake was Rudolph.

Sometimes the snowflake was a cowboy.  Complete with cacti, lasso, and wagon wheel.

Sometimes it was a pirate ship with skull and crossbones and a compass rose.

Sometimes the snowflake  was as simple as a poinsettia.

Sometimes it was as intricate as Martin Luther King, Jr. having a dream next to the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

But it always started like this:

The secret was in the fold, really.  And today, I'd like to share the secret with you.

Step 1: Fold corner #1 up so that it touches #2.

Step 2: Cut on the dotted line.

Step 3: You now have a triangle.  Have the longest side of the triangle closest to you.

Step 4: Fold your triangle in half.

Step 4: This is the step where the faint of heart stumble.  Stick with me.  You want to fold the triangle into thirds.  Estimate the size of the third by partly folding one side in front, while folding the opposite side in back.  It should look like a mini-accordion.  You might need to refold it a few times until the thirds fold evenly, so do not crease the folds until you know for sure the front and back folds are as close as you can get to being the same size.

Step 5: Then cut off the bunny ears.

Step 6: Wait to see a snowflake, then cut to set it free.  

It might be a holly wreath...

Or a downhill skier....

Or the Eiffel Tower...

Or a menorah with some dreidels and the Star of David...

If you can't hear a snowflake trying to break free, you can always follow these patterns:

1. MLK, Jr.     2. Rudolph    3. Pirate Ship     4. Poinsettia     5. Downhill Skier     6. Holly Wreath

But no matter how you cut it, whether it's by pattern or design, I promise that you will always come across something divine.

And if you don't, just call the BYU Travel Office.  They can solve all your snowflake (and travel) needs.

Answers

1 - g. Edna St. Vincent Millay 

This poem is a part of me (I've blogged about it before here).  

Sometimes when I run, I carry copies of poems/scriptures/declarations of independence and memorize them as I run.  

This poem makes me run longer than any other.

2 - d. Billy Collins

Oh, Billy.  You take my breath away, every time.  

I highly recommend every single one of his poems. 

3 - f. Shel Silverstien

This poem always reminds me of my sister-in-law, Liz.  

We memorized it together once, remember that, Liz?

4 - c. ee cummings

Sometimes I wonder if his friends called him e, for short.

5 - b. Robert Frost

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on." Amen, Bobby.

6 - e. JRR Tolkien

Apparently, if you read a lot of bumper stickers, you know this poem.

7 - a. Pablo Nurado

Te quiero, Pablito.  Te quiero.

Poetry Pop Quiz

Here are little snippets from some of my all time favorite poems.  To help you guess the poets who penned them, I've made it into a multiple choice quiz.  Your options are at the bottom.  Good luck!

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

a. Pablo Nurado

b. Robert Frost

c. ee cummings

d. Billy Collins

e. JRR Tolkien

f. Shel Silverstien

g. Edna St. Vincent Millay

*Bonus Points for anyone who can name the title of the poems!

You know you're in Utah when...

...you're sitting in a 1st grade class talking about MLK and equality and a student raises his hand and says, "The first black man in the world to get the priesthood is in my ward."  And the teacher says "That's great!" without batting an eye.

Cherry Blossoms in 3-D

Can you believe I'm still talking about cherry blossoms?

Just to spice it up, here are some videos of the blossoms.

In my opinion, if you've seen one picture of a cherry blossom, you've seen them all.  

But a video of a cherry blossom?  Now that's something to talk about.

In this first video, the sunlight was bouncing off the water in the tidal basin, which was in turn reflecting on the blossoms.  The blossoms actually looked like they were "popping right before my eyes."

This next video is of the blossoms falling, because sadly the time came when they did.

Riveting, I know.  Almost as riveting as an entire year full of cherry blossom blog posts.  Almost.

The Edge of the World

“They came to sit & dangle their feet off the edge of the world & after awhile they forgot everything but the good & true things they would do someday. ” Brian Andreas

If ever there were a season of the year that I could claim as my own, it would be New Years.


New Years is the granddaddy of all seasons to make dreams.  With an entire year ahead of you, full of nothing but empty days waiting for you to fill with amazing things...it almost makes me want to cry.





It kind of feels like when you're standing on the edge of the world, and you feel like it somehow belongs to you.





In this way New Years, and all its good and true things, belongs to me.






I guess it can belong to you too.  But to me too, too.

What I'll miss about DC

1) The Amish market: stuffed pretzels, blueberry fritters, cooper cheese, honey sticks, pumpkin rolls, apple cider...Amish market, I will never find another lover better than you. 

(I think Ben should be hired as an Amish market security guard.)

2) The monuments at night: I love my country all the time, but I for some reason it's easiest to remember why I love it when it's night and I'm on the Mall. 

3) Being closer to Iceland

4) Amsterdam Falafel: My mouth has not stopped salivating since I first ate you.

5) Rockcreek Park with its winding paths, fireflies, and secret beaches: You eased the pain just a little of being away from Oregon.  But just a little.  You tried your best and that's all I could ask.

6) The deer and bunnies that surround us daily: Thanks for making me feel like a Disney princess every time I stepped outside.

7) Baked and Wired: After searching far and wide, you were the victor of the best cupcake in DC.

8) The DC Temple Visitor's Center: truly rivals Salt Lake.

Image from Pixdaus

9) Access to a free racquetball court: Why did I not play in you more?  Why?

[No image: the regret is too painful]

10) to 100,000,000 billion) Living with this fantastic foursome: Will we ever be together again? Pretty sure nothing could stop us.