DO SOME GOOD

Do some good in the world today (for free...or pretty close to free):

1. IZZE sparkling juice has a goal to raise $25,000 to help under-privileged school children in Kenya. They will donate $1 to the Global Education Fund for every fun "sparkle" message you send to your friends from now until December 31, 2010. When at least 10 of your sparkles are accepted, IZZE will send YOU a free t-shirt. Everyone wins! So start sending SPARKLES here.


2. For the past 2 years, Odwalla has made a commitment to state parks by donating money to help plant trees. It’s pretty simple: they provide the trees, and you get to decide where to plant them. Help your planet and plant a tree in YOUR STATE by clicking here.


3. There was an oil spill recently, in case you haven't heard. Procter & Gamble provides Dawn soap for free to the International Bird Rescue Research Center and its partner organizations. (Dawn is the product favored by animal rescue staff to remove oil from birds, marine mammals and other wildlife.) So, next time soap is on your grocery list, make sure to buy a bottle of Special Edition Dawn then go online to activate your donation (info at site), and $1 will be donated to wildlife conservation organizations to clean up precious animals.

4. Chase started it's Chase Community Giving Summer 2010 program on June 15. Chase is providing an opportunity for small and local organizations to build awareness of their causes on a national level AND it's allowing individuals to help direct where the donations should go through the power of the Facebook platform.
My dear friends Travis and LaRee Hansen co-founded Little Heroes Foundation in 2007. The vision of this foundation is to plan and carry out projects that improve educational, medical, and living conditions for little heroes around the world. Little Heroes is in the running for the Chase program. Take a minute when you're logged into your facebook account and vote for this charity here.

NO ACCESS

I thought this NO ACCESS sign was funny when I actually saw it on the street in Italy by a construction zone.


But I thought it was even funnier when I saw it on the front of a pair of underwear for sale as I walked by a shop yesterday.
If only I wore thongs...
"Don't give me no lines and keep your hands to yourself." -Georgia Satellites

DUDE

Series of events:
William says: "Come on, dude!"
Milan looks away trying not to smile.
Ivanka looks at me as if to ask 'What are you teaching my son?!'
I reply: "I'm not a dude."
William: "Oh yeah, sorry. Well, let's go" and walks down stairs.
I look at both Milan and Ivanka and respond: "Must be the OTHER American you have living with you who taught him that word..."
Cheeky monkeys.

COME WHAT MAY, AND LOVE IT

I was somehow asked to name my top 10 pet peeves today. As I started to think about the list (littering, people not washing their hands after using the toilet, driving behind buses, etc.), I suddenly stopped and wondered why I was focusing on negative things. "Come what may, and love it" -Joseph B. Wirthlin. (Well, actually I'm quoting him as he quoted his mother.)

So I stopped my list and went for a walk. The streets of Plzeň have become all too familiar to me since this is my third summer here. This led me to my plan to change my attitude: I decided to have a little photo scavenger hunt of things that I saw that made me smile today. Here is what I found:


*The smell of roses as a summer breeze blew through my hair.
*Lens flare and funny shaped roof tops (love them both).
*SALE signs...in ANY language.
*The gesture of a dude moving to the outside as he walked next to his lady friend to keep her free from danger in the street.
*Places around town where people touch something for luck. Can you tell which one gets the most action?
*Pushing different buttons depending on whether you go #1 or #2 in the toilet (gotta save water).
*Little children (and maybe I do it too) chasing pigeons in the town square.
*Behind the scenes look as the circus was being set up in town.
*Stairs. EVERYWHERE. And lots of them. It's great for the booty.
*The sight of pretty flowers on someone's balcony.
*Wonderful walls full of texture (but dirty--don't touch).
*Removing your shoes before entering the apartment and putting on house slippers (or you'll hear the wrath of Ivanka).

There you have it...Come what may in Plzeň, and LOVING it.

DAD DAD DADDY-O

My dad's cool. He likes to grill, he rode the tea cups even though he said it was a girly ride, and he let me be the little red hen daughter when he brought in veggies from the garden. To him, I say: much love, dad dad daddy-o.


To the future dude whom one day I may decide to help me bring some bambinos into this world with, I say: get ready because I've been getting crazy total body workouts by swimming, climbing an average of 4,793 (at least that's what it feels like) stairs, trekking the streets an average of 2 hours, jumping on the trampoline (thank you William) EVERY DAY and have been baking up culinary delights all to work towards hot wife status. Make sure you work on your end. Enough said.


Happy father's day.

HAPPY

In my travels of the world thus far, I have been asked many times why I don't drink. In the last conversation I had about this topic, the other person said some people drink to hide things or to fill a hole where something is missing and they aren't happy (or something like that). He told me I must not be missing anything. This has been on my mind since I heard it said. I think far too often those of us who live in America have everything except happiness while I have met others who have so little of the worldly things who have nothing but happiness.


This morning, I was able to witness a great event. I was able to see a simple baptism in a lake of a simple man into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the happiness that radiated from his countenance as this process took place. Then it hit me...while I know that I don't actually have everything, I do know that I do have a little something special by being a Mormon. I have the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have the gift and the power of the Holy Ghost. I have knowledge of eternal life. I have the power of the priesthood on the earth and the gift of full access to that power. I have the gift of revealed scripture and a living prophet on earth. I have the tool of prayer and faith that my prayers are heard. I have the gift of understanding the Atonement of Jesus Christ with knowledge of repentance and hope. I have a testimony of purpose in life. Sure, I have challenges and things don't always go as I plan, but I believe in Christ and that makes me happy.**

CLICK HERE TO SEE A COOL VIDEO THAT EXPLAINS WHAT I MEAN IN A BETTER WAY OR TO LEARN MORE

**I'm not saying money is bad. I mean, feel to free to buy me things if you want. In fact, not enough people buy me things, in my opinion. I'm just saying it's not the most important thing.

TWO THINGS...FREE

TWO THINGS:

1) Levi's invited a few cool artists from different genres to recreate some classic songs that inspired them. Go to Levi's Pioneer Sessions to listen and download the tracks you like for free. JASON MRAZ was added yesterday singing Spirit in the Sky...I kinda have a music video crush on him.

2) For everyone signing up for fun summer runs and events: Powerbar is giving away PowerBar® Gel BlastsTM samples. CLICK HERE

PARTY PRINCESS

Today is Ivanka's birthday, so while everyone was away, I did my duty to help her celebrate the most American way possible.
I bought a cake with baking directions written in Hungarian, Czech, Slovakian, and Polish. If that didn't mess me up enough, the ingredient measurements were in milliliters and grams. Don't fear: I whipped up a culinary delight that looked AND tasted delish.


Next, I put up a few decorations, wrapped a gift, found a party hat for the birthday girl to wear, and made a game of 'pin the earrings on the Ivanka' for everyone to play. Maybe I taught William to sing "Happy birthday to you. You live in a zoo. You look like a monkey. And you smell like one too." Just maybe.


Then I helped Ivanka spice up her birthday party invitation text for the evening (wink wink).
At the end of the day, we had one happy party princess!

MIXING PATTERNS

I'm totally one for mixing colors and patterns,

but THIS is way too much for me.
Bless her heart.

DEAR VOLCANO

Dear erupting volcano in Iceland,
I've been told you are slightly responsible for the weather this year in Europe. I want to tell you:
today was too cold
two days ago was too hot
but yesterday...
yesterday was juust right.
Thank you
deanna

Left Right Left Right Left

Very cool...

In an effort to recognize the fact that times were tough and as a thank you to the fans who were spending lots of cash to see/hear them, Coldplay decided to release a live EP last year that contains nine songs recorded at various venues. And they are still giving it away for free. The nine songs lean heavily on the last album, Viva la Vida, as would be expected but it also has a couple of songs from past releases.

Click here to download the entire album "LeftRightLeftRightLeft" if you don't already have it. All you need to do is enter your email and country.

TACKY SOUVENIRS

I'm not one who needs or wants tacky souvenirs whenever I travel to a new place.

1) I don't like to carry things
2) I usually don't spot a key chain or ash tray I can't live without

Since I don't buy this stuff for myself, I usually don't think to get things for other people unless they specifically ask me to bring them back something. Otherwise, I feel like what I buy will get me a smile when they receive it and will then go to some junk drawer. Does this make me a bad friend/sister/aunt/daughter?

LAVENDER/ ESSENTIAL OILS GIVEAWAY

Every day in Cyprus was HOT...I mean temperature wise. wink wink. The night was warm too, but since it's an island and surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, there were mosquitoes. So I was faced with a dilemma: do I put more clothes on and be hot or stay comfortable with as little on as possible and get eaten by the bloodsucking insects?!

As we were walking from our usual night to the playground with the children, Ivanka stopped at a plant and pulled a branch off. She told me it was lavender and when she was a little girl her mother would pick it because the smell kept bugs away (not so much mosquitoes but moths and other pesky insects). Then she had me touch it and smell my hand. The scent was strong and nice.


Later that night, I left the resort and went to town with my new friend George. I was able to experience true Cyprus a little better even though he isn't originally from there. He told me about his country. And I returned to my room a few hours later without any new itchy bites on my legs. Was it the magical lavender?

SO...to THE GIVEAWAY:

I'm going to give away a bottle of lavender oils (helps relieve stress and maybe wards off pesky bugs) to anyone who can guess the country my new George friend is from (since I didn't know so much about the place).

HERE ARE THE CLUES:
1. They sometimes put funny marks above as well as UNDER the letters in the their alphabet.
2. A female athlete from this country shone during the Montreal Summer Olympics in 1976 (receiving the first perfect 10 score in gymnastics).
3. The language is included in the 6 most widely spoken standardized Romantic languages (and sounds a lot like Italian to me).
4. Vlad Tepes was a ruler who was nicknamed DRACULA for his cruel method of punishment through impalement.
5. The national flag has 3 primary colored vertical stripes

TO ENTER:
Leave your guess and any other cool facts or experiences you have had with this country. Giveaway ends June 30, 2010. The winner will be chosen at random.
Thank you Shauna for donating the oils.

**Earn an extra entry by:
-visiting Shauna's store and leaving a comment about a product that interests you
-(2) entries for making a purchase
-following my blog with GFC
-telling me I'm cool for having my first real giveaway. hooray!

DEMOLITION

Orem High School
Established: 1956
Mascot: Golden Tigers
Colors: Blue and Gold
Orem, Utah

Orem High School, my alma mater, has a scheduled demolition some time this month. There was an open house May 19, for anyone who wanted to walk through the school prior to it's destruction. I unfortunately missed this event. Sad face.

In it's place, there will be a new high school along with about 7.5 acres of new landscaping.
Things I will remember about OHS:
many lessons learned from Downs C-7
"year book staff passes" to roam the halls
sitting in the new lounge built by the class of 1998 (woot! woot!)
AP Basketball with Spence Weiler in the trailers
being issued lockers but opting to use the back seat of my car instead
lettered halls that confused the heck out of me my first week
A vs B days
lots of hours in the dark room
Eye of the Tiger
hippies in the Unified Studies room
never eating a single school lunch from the cafeteria
learning to drive in the range with B98.7fm blasting
sneaking into school dances
released time -- a way better alternative to early morning seminary
meeting some of my most very favorite people

CYPRUS

Things I love about our stay in Cyprus:
sun. all day. every day.
crazy cats roaming the resort catching lizards
Aphrodite. the island of love
driving cars on opposite sides
Greek food buffets
flying with Czech airlines (love their service)
cute boys serving slushes by the pool
the Greek shuttle bus drivers who are crazy about America
swimming in the Mediterranean
hearing people say OPA! for no apparent reason
and this night when we danced with the Greek guys in funny pants:

LOVE EXACTLY

Aphrodite, Greek goddess of love and beauty, was believed to be born of the foam in the sea on the island of Cyprus. Here's MY version at her said birthplace.


Now one quick question:
If she is the goddess of love and her birthplace is pretty BUT dangerous, cold, and full of rocks...what does this say about love exactly?!

SHOPPING CART RETURN

Admit it...we all get a little bugged when we come out of a store and see a shopping cart behind our car or that one has blown into another car by the wind. Yeah--hate that. People, why can't you return them to the stall like a responsible person should?! I haven't seen a single shopping cart left out in a parking lot here and I think it is because of this idea:
All of the carts are connected by a little chain. To get one free for use, you must put a coin in the slot and it pushes the chain out. When you return the cart, you use the chain from the cart just in front of yours to push your coin out, which in turn, locks it up until the next person comes along and your coin is returned to your pocket. AMAZING.

MATH LESSON

Maybe I'm not the best at math, but I'm pretty sure there is something wrong with the logic in this tshirt:

My other favorites that I have seen recently say "three blind mouse" and "living life to the full." Oh Czechs...bless your hearts.

SPAIN

Thanks to my pal LaRee and her family, the nanny, and my friend Brandon, I was able to enjoy a wonderful week in Spain.
I drank horchata, watched soccer, and hung out with the bulls in Madrid

Visited Alhambra, devoured churros con chocolate, and hunted for gypsies in Granada

Enjoyed Plaza de España, munched on tapas, and castled it up in Seville

Picked oranges from trees, experienced flamenco, and got lots of opportunities to hablo in Cordoba.

Click here to see more of my photos from Spain

SUMMER/MUSIC/BBQ

I'm not in town this weekend...but if I was, I'd totally go to this concert!
However, I'm headed to Spain. William is at a KinderCamp for a week which equals time off for me. So I'm going to see if the rain really does stay mainly in the plains.

Here is the info:
Date: Saturday, 22 May 2010
Time: 6:30 - 11:30
Location: Velour Live Music Gallery
Street: 135 N University Avenue
Town/City: Provo, UT
Cost: $7
Cory Mon & the Starlight Gospel with Dave Eaton...need I say more?! Well, I will...Kara Henderson, the Question, and hot diggity dogs!

BBQ starts roughly @ 630pm - Doors @ 8pm - Music @ 830pm

GREATPOSTEROFFER.COM

Who doesn't need to hang artwork like this?! Especially if it's free!


Click here to choose YOUR free poster

FREE SHAMPOOING

Just heard about this:

Rachael Ray mentioned it on her show and it's on Facebook, so you wouldn't be cool unless you got in on this deal. Suave is offering 100,000 free bottles of their new Salon Professional Quality shampoo and conditioner. Click here to get yours.

BEYONCE

Some days I feel like saying "You must not know 'bout me..." Beyonce style.
Then others I feel like she's telling ME I shouldn't think I'M so Irreplaceable.
Am I the only one who feels this way? Maybe I shouldn't think out loud.

SUMMER MARKETS

Go ahead...try to guess what my favorite thing is about being in Plzen.
The hot boys?...NO
The beer?...Never tried it
Getting out of trouble by saying, "I speak English"?...psshhh, that's easy

It's the little summer markets that fill the náměstí


with sights like these:

Today was perfect.

DENTIST

On Saturday, May 1, 2010, the day before I flew to the Czech Republic, Stonehaven Dental in Lehi opened its doors to members of the community who couldn't afford dental work. On a first come first serve basis, community members were able to get an extraction, filling, or cleaning. Registration began at 8AM, but some people spent the night to be first in line. I really don't know why. My friend showed up at like 7AM and grabbed a ticket for me with no problem. Whatever...people like to do weird stuff.

Since I travel around a lot for work and maybe don't really have dental insurance, I went in for a simple cleaning to keep these pearly whites shining. It was great. My teeth thank you, Stonehaven Dental.

So if YOU are looking for a great dentist in the Utah County area, may I suggest to you the place with my absolute favorite dentists, the friendliest staff, best snacks, and all-around coolest dental experience (and I'm pretty sure they have a treasure box):

Hammond & Ellis Dentistry in Provo, UT

Besides me just wanting to spread the word on good service, they also offer a $30 gift card for both you AND me for referrals so click here to make your appointment:
http://www.facebook.com/hammondellis#!/hammondellis?v=app_4949752878

(They also have a deal going now until June for professional teeth whitening for only $30 and 100% of the proceeds are going to charity. They just keep sounding better and better, don't they.)

MOTHER'S DAY

My mom rocks

LEMON/CUCUMBER

Last Friday, I had an awesome date to spend the afternoon at a spa. We went to the Kura Door. It's a Japanese Spa in Salt Lake City and it was pretty much amazing. Three hours that included 1 hot soak, a 60 minute massage, 2 trips to the wet sauna, a couple minutes in the dry sauna (not my favorite), 6 dried apricots and almonds, and I was the happiest girl ever.


BUT my most favorite thing about this place was not walking around in the robes and slippers they provide for you, it was drinking the water infused with lemons and cucumbers. WOW! So delicious. I think I found a new favorite.


I mean, I've had lemon in water and I've had cucumber water, but never lemon WITH cucumber water.

WORLD'S SMALLEST...

I've travelled around the world a little bit, but never have I been so mesmerized by such a find. That's right, I am pretty sure that today I opened a jar to discover the world's smallest....pickle or okurka as they say here in Czech.





**Right after taking these photos, I ate it and kinda destroyed the evidence. Don't I feel like such a fool.

LIBERATION

It's the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Plzen by the American army and today ended the festivities. These are the beautiful sights I've seen on my walks around town (amid the rain).


American and Czech flags flying together

German propaganda posters

At the top of Americka street, there is this nice memorial:


Czech citizens gave lilacs to WWII soldiers in gratitude and so during this celebration you could smell the beautiful flowers around in remembrance.


Thank you, America!
Click here and here to read more.

REUNITED

Deanna and William reunited.
"I want to stay in your room and play with you forever and ever."
Oh no, what have I gotten myself into?!
**We'll see how long it lasts...

CZECH

Three planes, 2 inflight meals, one 5-year old William so excited to see me and I made it to Plzen. Ah the Czech Republic: the land where I am no longer an inexpensive date because beer costs less than water.

(Pilsner Urquell brewery)