tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-134559382012-02-09T22:03:47.225-07:00NoSurfGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00466860937596192472noreply@blogger.comBlogger637125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13455938.post-85065553444251098312012-01-28T12:56:00.015-07:002012-01-28T15:15:48.332-07:002012-01-28T15:15:48.332-07:00

I posted the first part of our house-hunt story several months ago. I wanted to collect enough pictures, and have a real block of time to do this post right when I got down to it. I ended that last post describing how discouraged I was feeling. That I realized we can't get the house of our dreams because we couldn't afford to heat and maintain it. Well, the very next day, a house that I'd

NoSurfGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00466860937596192472noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13455938.post-43239266983086149182011-12-31T12:10:00.001-07:002011-12-31T12:17:44.000-07:002011-12-31T12:17:44.000-07:00

I know lots of people will be relating experiences and memories today. My mother and her brother wrote a lovely obituary. I helped with some comma placement, so I got to read it. I am not sure I want to stand up and say much today. I feel like it would sort of be self-aggrandizing to get up when there are others who know him better in a different capacity than just grandfather. But let me say

NoSurfGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00466860937596192472noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13455938.post-72491992589932342992011-12-15T10:57:00.007-07:002011-12-15T11:57:02.499-07:002011-12-15T11:57:02.499-07:00

It is hard to believe that it has been a whole year since the big changes happened for our family. At this time last year, Skywalker was being interviewed for a job. And given an offer. And it was during Christmas Vacation that we came up here to see this windy, snowy little town and sample American Pizza Cafe oreo dessert pizza and tacos from one of the four local taco trucks. When we stayed

NoSurfGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00466860937596192472noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13455938.post-88214030827702427432011-11-26T13:38:00.000-07:002011-11-26T13:38:23.704-07:002011-11-26T13:38:23.704-07:00

Check out the latest post on my professional blog about writing, this year, and the plan for next year, as well as links to a few great contest where some of you should definitely submit your stuff.

NoSurfGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00466860937596192472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13455938.post-52395897833498928092011-11-15T10:49:00.012-07:002011-11-15T13:46:34.264-07:002011-11-15T13:46:34.264-07:00

I'm going to make this entry all about Rockwell's character and his relationship with the indians. There is so much going around on the internet about Rockwell, not to mention the hundred or so novels that have been written about or mention him. Porter Rockwell is a legend just about as big among the LDS people as Butch Cassidy, and therefore, there's a lot of heresay going around out there.

NoSurfGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00466860937596192472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13455938.post-77514553907760054472011-11-03T16:09:00.000-06:002011-11-03T16:09:48.897-06:002011-11-03T16:09:48.897-06:00

(setting: squirt has developed a ritual of a nightly personal prayer with mom to fend off nightmares. Generally he's got this prayer down pat, but tonight he's a bit tired and more than a little sugar-high). Squirt: *Clears throat, squints at NSG, and flings his upper body onto his mattress* Dearhevnyfather, thankyoufor thisday, thankyoufor... hmmm... this food, blessit'llbe good forusn help

NoSurfGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00466860937596192472noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13455938.post-87486363122752461112011-11-01T12:42:00.013-06:002011-11-01T13:09:38.558-06:002011-11-01T13:09:38.558-06:00

William Hickman.Or Wild Bill Hickman, as he was more colorfully known. Accounts of him are all over the map. So what is true? The short answer? Who knows. He lived more than a hundred years ago. In piecing and parcing accounts done by Mormon scholars such as Hugh Nibley, accounts from individual family histories by his descendents, his own well-known publication, and the mentions he gets

NoSurfGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00466860937596192472noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13455938.post-4238056108627496162011-10-31T08:59:00.002-06:002011-10-31T09:02:45.188-06:002011-10-31T09:02:45.188-06:00

(setting--kids are tidying their rooms because friends are coming over later. Breakfast is being ladeled into bowls.) MayMay: Mom, can we have breakfast right now? We're almost done cleaning. NSG: What's left? MayMay: We just have to sweep. NSG: sweep? I never said they had to sweep. When was the last time they ever swept? Well, better not to look a gift horse in the mouth... Just maybe hurry

NoSurfGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00466860937596192472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13455938.post-8484639727637536502011-10-25T13:59:00.006-06:002011-10-25T14:16:30.683-06:002011-10-25T14:16:30.683-06:00

Erastus Snow, the second of my "Hard Men," wasn't hard in the same sense that Daniel W. Jones was. He didn't ever lead a 'rough and rowdy' existence. In fact he was the picture of scholarly refinement. Like his sister Eliza, who is famous for her poems and colorful, romanticised accounts of church history, he had a way with words. And like Eliza's, his accounts have been edited by family members

NoSurfGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00466860937596192472noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13455938.post-688053333649301322011-10-19T15:00:00.002-06:002011-10-19T15:02:41.785-06:002011-10-19T15:02:41.785-06:00

I haven't officially told this to the world yet: The Nosurf family will be welcoming its seventh child into the world on or around March 3, 2012. OK, so, now that's out of the way... I've been weaning baby Rose. Baby Rose hasn't gotten a whole lot of publicity on here. MOstly because I took a big break when we moved, and she's only been around for 18 months. But she is very intelligent,

NoSurfGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00466860937596192472noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13455938.post-91486251937372717022011-10-18T14:17:00.002-06:002011-10-18T14:19:38.326-06:002011-10-18T14:19:38.326-06:00

In trying to frame a kind of reference for discussing the relations between the Indians and the settlers in Utah Valley, I came up with the idea to discuss four men who dealt with the Indians on a frequent basis, and who, at times, were called to positions as interpreters/diplomats between the tribes and the settlers. These are four very different men, and their stories will, I think, provide a

NoSurfGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00466860937596192472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13455938.post-75686862754880831032011-10-17T16:52:00.004-06:002011-10-17T17:19:51.539-06:002011-10-17T17:19:51.539-06:00

The other day I made a political comment as my facebook status update. Always dangerous. But I couldn't hold it in. It was too much. I made my comment after reading this. I'm not going to write here what my comment exactly was. Because I don't want that to be the focus of this post. Suffice it to say that old friends/family commented and it lead to a (genteel, but pointed) discussion about

NoSurfGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00466860937596192472noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13455938.post-59901759115962087512011-10-11T15:37:00.001-06:002011-10-11T16:54:33.662-06:002011-10-11T16:54:33.662-06:00

This is the post I've been waiting to do. I love the detective work that goes into figuring out an old town, and I love browsing through old photographs, and trying to capture a picture in my mind of places as they used to be. So, let's talk about how Provo became a town. After some more hostilities were exchanged between the settlers and the Indians, hostilities which later lead to the Walker

NoSurfGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00466860937596192472noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13455938.post-75694840304426601042011-10-04T14:05:00.010-06:002011-10-04T14:26:03.441-06:002011-10-04T14:26:03.441-06:00

A few of the details I didn't mention in my last history blurb on the Battle of Fort Utah (or as it is sometimes called, the Battle of Provo River): a) Cheif Old Elk was chief of the Timpanodos or Timpanoges tribe (sorry for the confusion, there) AND b) One of the big advantages the settlers had in the conflict following Old Bishop's demise was a reprieve: a large party of emigrants were

NoSurfGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00466860937596192472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13455938.post-43439465129109704012011-10-03T15:42:00.007-06:002011-10-03T15:53:12.245-06:002011-10-03T15:53:12.245-06:00

I was talking at Skywalker last night. He was tired, blinking, watching me as I spoke. Sometimes this happens. Especially when I've just read some political news or commentary, and feel like I need to vent.. I was telling Skywalker last night that the best president for now would (in my opinion, if he were actually electable again) probably be Clinton. As in Bill, not HIllary, because as much as

NoSurfGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00466860937596192472noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13455938.post-9921739234804900822011-10-01T22:09:00.006-06:002011-10-01T22:18:43.890-06:002011-10-01T22:18:43.890-06:00

NSG: you need to stop opening all those windows. We have too many flies in this house! Skywalker: It gets too hot to leave them shut. What we really need are a lot of flyswatters. NSG: (thinking of a recent conversation about how it was time to get a cat or dog, because there might be a mouse living in one of the walls) Or just a bunch of spiders. Skywalker: (makes terrible face, but doesn't

NoSurfGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00466860937596192472noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13455938.post-34960915456033056132011-09-30T13:23:00.001-06:002011-09-30T13:23:17.459-06:002011-09-30T13:23:17.459-06:00

...explain this to me.

NoSurfGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00466860937596192472noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13455938.post-85883170224282232712011-09-28T10:11:00.003-06:002011-09-28T10:15:02.383-06:002011-09-28T10:15:02.383-06:00

I don't usually do movie reviews on my blog. Not because I don't enjoy movie reviews. I just like to have movies be a "fun" thing in my life... no work. Just watch and enjoy or laugh if it's a dumb movie. But recently I saw a movie called 17 Miracles. I didn't know what the movie was about; we saw it kind of on a whim. And Skywalker's sister recommended it highly. I groaned when the movie

NoSurfGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00466860937596192472noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13455938.post-33773526138023932642011-09-27T10:33:00.010-06:002011-10-01T13:08:15.559-06:002011-10-01T13:08:15.559-06:00

*Another disclaimer. In my research and in the writing of Lightning Tree, my novel which is due to be released April 2012 by Bonneville Books/Cedar Fort, I attempted to read accounts from every side of every historical event that I could find, especially when approaching anything controversial. I don’t want to be an apologist—that is, someone who tries to gloss over wrongdoing on the Mormon

NoSurfGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00466860937596192472noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13455938.post-41842551738874666882011-09-26T08:30:00.006-06:002011-09-26T09:28:25.235-06:002011-09-26T09:28:25.235-06:00

We are starting to feel settled here in our new home, and I feel secure enough, and the chaos and stress surrounding our move and house hunting is starting to fade into the background. So... I can write about it. When we first arrived in town, we realized several things. First, it was cold. But not as horribly cold as people had warned us. It was strange... I quickly became accustomed to the

NoSurfGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00466860937596192472noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13455938.post-40755787665785936652011-09-23T09:17:00.005-06:002011-09-23T09:26:14.468-06:002011-09-23T09:26:14.468-06:00

Having put aside my classics for a while, I have decided to review some of the most significant pieces of literature that grace my shelves. Today's review will be on a piece of avant-garde feminist literature from the mid sixties. This book has everything: Sweeping romance, philosophy, drama, good and evil in its starkest forms. Tite: There Came a Surgeon Author: Hilda Pressley Cover Art:

NoSurfGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00466860937596192472noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13455938.post-9972438866584006952011-09-22T13:03:00.007-06:002011-09-22T13:13:44.364-06:002011-09-22T13:13:44.364-06:00

So... guys. In order to be completely honest with the all of you, I need to come clean. A bit. On my own shifting views of our current president. You'll remember that I had great love and respect and admiration for Barack H. Obama in 2008 when he was elected. And that I defended him as a centrist when the left jumped off his wagon and the right began using nasty words like communist. But I

NoSurfGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00466860937596192472noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13455938.post-61277923253941665142011-09-21T08:50:00.001-06:002011-09-21T08:55:42.653-06:002011-09-21T08:55:42.653-06:00

(setting: NSG, Skywalker, and kids are sitting at the table eating dinner) NSG: (thoughtful) You know, we always talk about how much we want to raise animals. But Skywalker, have you thought about the fact that this means killing animals? Like, we can't keep boy goats. Maybe one, or even two, but... half the babies that are born every year will have to be sold for meat. Skywalker: I have

NoSurfGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00466860937596192472noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13455938.post-7656396908585453512011-09-20T13:48:00.008-06:002011-09-20T14:16:50.441-06:002011-09-20T14:16:50.441-06:00

Disclaimer: These are not meant to be scholarly articles. They are meant to be fun. To read, to think about. I don't plan on peppering these "blurbs" with references, though if anybody asks, I will provide a specific reference or two for something they'd like to do further research about. Honestly, I think of these blurbs as legend-telling. I go all over the internet and all over the sources

NoSurfGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00466860937596192472noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13455938.post-13674498239681470362011-09-02T10:46:00.000-06:002011-09-02T10:46:38.675-06:002011-09-02T10:46:38.675-06:00

I have a lot of interesting utah valley history tidbits floating around in my mind. There are some cool sites out there, some fascinating journal entries saved and put online by families, some amazing pictures. Cedar Fort marketing people have given me the go ahead to er... go ahead, and post some "utah history blurbs" once in a while, to (in part) build anticipation for my book when it comes

NoSurfGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00466860937596192472noreply@blogger.com0