A Tubular Time

Jessame does an amazing job planning fun activities and getting people together to do them. I admit, I was a little hesitant to join in on this one. Going tubing all the way in Soldier's Hollow felt very adventurous for a school night.  I'm also kind of a wuss sometimes.  But it was such an intriguing idea that I just couldn't say no.  And between work and homework, I was yearning for something fun that had nothing to do with either.

 

 The cool part about this tubing experience is that everyone gets pulled up the mountain while sitting in their tubes.  They play some rocking music. The first time I went down, I panicked when I realized I was going so fast and there was absolutely nothing I could do to get out of it.  I couldn't even scream.  We went down about 6 more times, though, and it was so fun.  I liked going down in pairs the most.  During one run, Dallin and I raced Jessame and Mark.  We both went on our stomachs this time and I think that was our winning move.  Once when Jessame and I went down, we definitely caught air more than once.

 

 Probably the most exciting moment was one solo run I did.  I was going down the hill backwards (that kept happening by accident) and the red flashing lights indicated that I needed to start dragging my feet to slow down.  So, I started dragging of course, because I'm freaked out every time I go down anyway and I'm eager to slow down.  As I dug my heels in, first one boot came off, then the other.  I was so disoriented by the fact that I was in my socks that I forgot to keep dragging my feet.  I ended up barreling into an orange mesh barricade.  The workers had to come over and see why on earth I didn't slow myself down.  I got a few laughs from people at the bottom of the hill.

 

And who doesn't want to end their snow tubing adventures with a shake from the Dairy Keen?  I made it clear that I can't go to Heber without stopping there.  Love.

 

In totally unrelated news, I had the opportunity to use the special dip bowls I got for Christmas when we had Chris and Allie over for shredded chicken tacos.  Aren't they darling? 

A Farewell to Summer

This post is a fond farewell to summer.

Goodbye to my sweet summer full of reunions with my best friends and their children...

Shelley, Kate and I reunited for a roommate sleepover that was much too short, but blissful.  Love seeing my friends as sweet mothers!

Last time I saw Dana, she had three and now she has five (including TWO sets of twins!).  We joined Lisa and her crew (eight kids between them!) for an afternoon at the park!

 

 

Five car seats!

 Farewell to carefree afternoons babysitting the sweetest human beings on earth...

I got to hang out with my friend Jodi's baby while his parents saw Wicked- I fell in love.

Look how my main man's hair curls! Is that not the cutest thing you've ever laid your eyes on?!

 So long summer concerts with my little band...

For my dad's 60th birthday, Lane and I surprised him with a private concert by Farr from Houston followed by ice-cream sundaes.  My dad inspired me to play the guitar and I inherited my love of the blue grass genre from him.  I couldn't wait for him to hear our music (especially Lane's guitar/mandolin work!).

This was my favorite performance so far.

Ta ta to faculty training and classroom preparations...

I like our new faculty shirts.

New idea Christina sent me from Pinterest. If phones have too many visits to jail, they get sent to prison in the main office.

 

...hello first day of school.

Kind of fun/scary to forever have a first day of school.  The first day is always a little nerve wracking, no matter how many years I've been teaching!

 See ya later, age 30 (my hardest birthday)...and hello to the rapidly approaching 31 (shaping up to be my best birthday!).

My family took my out to dinner as an early birthday present.  Our chef introduced himself as "Big White Guy."  The food was incredible.

They surprised me with gifts! My dad always says whichever one I like best is from him, but we both know my mom chooses everything.  She knows me extremely well.  Stationary, music pin board and earrings, a puzzle, gift card to down east, and a travel backpack.  I was thrilled and have already begun putting my gifts to use!

On the first day of school, this incredible package arrived on my doorstep from Shauna "Cha Cha" Mcgarry, one of my very best friends from my youth.  She couldn't have picked anything I would love more. I was so overwhelmed by her thoughtfulness.  Her birthday is 7 days before mine and I'm not sure how I'm going to match this!

More reunioning!

Last week, I reunited with the girls I lived with during my first year in Millrace (my first year teaching).  This week, I reunited with the girls I lived with during my second year in Millrace! Krista, Kelsey, and Sylvia and I lived together and Shannon is our dear friend who lived in another Millrace apartment! I love these girls. There is something so wonderful about old friends. Though we change, everything feels the same when we're together again!  And by the way, I am pretty sold on going straight up traditional on cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory from now on. SO delicious. (I skipped the crust because I was being a good little GF girl...but not good enough not to order it despite the gluten content.)

In preparation for our band pre-show next week, Lane and I spend nearly 3 hours practicing all our music. I'm humbled to work with such a talented musician.  There is no one more dedicated to perfecting his art than Lane. And his homemade instruments are genius.  In the picture on the right, he is using a pill bottle for a shaker that he holds while he strums in even rhythm! And he apparently has one camera face.

I had the honor of spending Thursday evening with this handsome boy while his mom and dad went on a little date.  He is such a delight.  The picture on the bottom left is my favorite.  He has to make sure he gets all the food from his bib. The kid has a ravenous appetite. I love it!

This darling (brand new) outfit I insisted putting him in this morning lasted for about 30 minutes, after which is was stained with the blueberries that I fed him without a bib.  My sister is very patient with my learning curve.

This is my favorite thing Scotty currently does.  I call it, "Downward dog."

I about died when a friend of mine showed me this.  It's flat out hilarious.  It's not actually how I feel...but sometimes I wish I did!

Friendunion 2014

I am such a lucky girl.

Some of the greatest blessings of my life have been the friendships I have made with my roommates over the past 13 years.  I feel enormous gratitude for the women who have taught me, cried with me, laughed with me, understood me, uplifted me, spiritually fed me, and so many other things that are invaluable to me.

This weekend, I reunited with Kate (Wyoming), Tessa (Ohio), and Melissa (Orem), my roommates from Millrace #3 the year after I graduated college.  We were three teachers and a social worker, all working professionals and navigating our way through difficult changes, decisions, and the general ups and downs of life.  I am forever grateful for that time!

Our first item of business as reunited friends was to eat at Cafe Rio.  Ohhhhh man.

My parents generously let us stay in their condo for one night.  Melissa had the brilliant idea to give Tessa a little surprise baby shower. I was in charge of secretly decorating before everyone got there.  When Tessa walked in, she said, "Who had a baby shower here?"  to which Melissa replied, "You!" It was a really fun moment.

For the baby shower activity, we made baby mobiles (inspired by Scotty Pendleton's mobile).  It was unanimously one of our favorite parts of the entire weekend, and they were so inexpensive to make.  While working, we were highly entertained by the movie Sydney White with Amanda Bynes.

For dinner, we hit our favorite roommate restaurant, Magelby's (now located in Springville).  They had their seasonal strawberry shortcake this time! I was very sad to miss out on that, but I enjoyed ice-cream with raspberry sauce and frosting from the cake!

After spending the night in the condo, we worked together to make a killer GF breakfast. Tessa made the pancakes, I made the syrup, Kate did the fruit and whipping cream, and Many did the bacon. It was a true team effort and was VERY delicious.  My sissy and my Scotty joined us, which was delightful.  I love how comfortable my sister is with my friends and vise versa.  Scotty continues to be hilarious and adorable and can now wave and give five!

Our reunion was in Park City. We headed first to the Olympic Park.  I LOVE THE OLYMPICS! I loved this activity...and it was FREE! I would love to go back again soon.

I was shamefully proud of the reflection picture (top right).  The bottom two pictures are props and costumes used in the opening ceremonies!

They had ski uniforms on display from different decades.  Our personal favorites were the ones from the eighties, as pictured above. Check out the leg warmers on the top right!

Olympians have a tradition of exchanging pins. They had a display with lots of pins from the 2002 Olympics, including the "Mormon Muffin" in the top left corner! Top right picture are the Olympic mascots. The bottom right picture is the pool where the ski jump aerialists practice year round.  More on that later!

I was excited about the ski boot from the 1930's.  We also had the chance to have a virtual "experience" ski flying. We even got snowed on!

After our park visit, we headed to Main Street for lunch.  This delicious restaurant now has a gluten free menu! Yessssss! I was stoked about the Mug root beer (my all-time favorite) and excitedly bought a fountain drink.  Many had to sit me down when I got to the table and break the news that the syrup was gone. I was devastated. But, I found a frozen lemonade that eased my aching heart and the waiter even brought me a free bottle of root beer :-).

So what did we do on Main Street, you ask? Well, we went shopping for expensive jewelry we can't afford, which may have included Melissa and I trying on several wedding rings (though neither one of us are engaged).  Good times. Really good times.  I find my style has changed very little in the past several years!

After our Park City jewelry tour, we checked into our hotel for a little R&R.  Kate got a KILLER deal on a beautiful Marriott hotel.  We all crashed on our beds and played each other in Scramble with Friends, Words with Friends, and Quiz up for a good solid two hours.  This was one of my top three favorite things we did on the trip! It was so fun.  We then went to Red Rock for dinner.  At Kate's suggestion, each of us took turns telling the others about our lives as high school students.  We learned so much about each other! I didn't remember that Kate was involved in mock trial, that Tessa had won 2nd place in a talent show singing a Jewel song, or that Melissa was the mom in Bye, Bye Birdie! We then came back to our hotel and hit the jacuzzi and pool and talked about our favorite musicals.

While at the Olympic Park the day before, we saw an advertisement for the Flying Aces show, a team of ski jumpers who train at the park.  We decided to come back on Saturday with picnic lunches.  It was $10 a person but was so worth it! In the top right picture, the athletes have climbed to various points on the ramps from which they will take off. On the bottom right, you can see the bubbles that are used to break the tension of the pool surface so it won't hurt when the skiers hit the water.

The announcer walked us through the steps of those who begin training in this sport.  Top left is the trampoline where they first learn to flip.  Top middle is the carpeted mini ramp where they first jump.  We saw kids as young as 5 jumping! And the top left is the highest jump they have! There are a couple of other heights in between the second and third picture :-).

So many people came to watch!

After our picnic, we went to Cow's Ice-Cream on Main Street. This shop holds significance for us.  We discovered almost exactly five years ago in Prince Edward Island where it originated.  We took a picture on the cow (top right picture).  Five years later, we recreated the cow picture (bottom left), which was slightly more difficult. Getting on and off a giant cow is not as easy post 30 years old (not to mention Tessa is 4 months pregnant!).  But we were pretty proud of ourselves.

I introduced the crew to my boyfriend the bear. I was a little jealous of all the attention the other girls were giving him, but I am learning to share.

We got pedicures, took pictures of our matching bracelets from the Olympic Park, and saw the moose with jeans on.  We also did a little outlet shopping (I got J Crew wedges for $21.99!). It was such a wonderful day!

Our final dinner of the reunion was Bandit's BBQ on Main Street.  The top right picture is in the hotel just before we left.  The food was INCREDIBLE!  I definitely think we'll be back.  During dinner, we wrote down all our memories from the trip (bottom right picture) to put in our time capsule for the next reunion.  We made a time capsule before we all went our different ways as roommates back in 2009 and revisited it during one of our reunions. We decided it was time for an update!

It was an unforgettable weekend.  At dinner, we all went around and said our top three favorite things from the weekend.  Melissa talked about how fun it was to remember all the things we love about each other. I loved that and it has inspired me to spotlight something each of these women bring to our friendship.

Many is so smart.  If you need to know what to say in a text to a boy you like, ask Many. If you don't know where you are, have Many look at the map and figure it out. If you aren't sure what a word means, Melissa knows it. She's like our informal leader whenever we go anywhere because we trust her to do what's best for all of us.  She's got the street smarts AND the book smarts!

The perfect word to describe Kate is gracious.  She is loving and kind and looks to see that each of our needs are met before her own.  She is supportive and makes us feel like a million bucks.  Shopping with Kate is the best because she is so positive.  She has a clear understanding of what is most important in life, like meaningful relationships and spending time with the people we love. She is integral in making sure these reunions happen. 

Tessa never complains. Tessa is up for ANYTHING! Tessa is a fabulous, sympathetic, and thoughtful listener.  We find ourselves pouring out our concerns to Tessa, because she always knows the right thing to say.  We joke all the time about her "Missing Out Syndrome" because she always loves being part of the fun and hesitates to leave the room for fear of missing out on the party! She is an absolute joy to be around.

Thank you Kate, Tessa, and Melissa, for enriching my life so greatly!

This and That!

 Cute Children

Sometimes I'm afraid that Joe/Shana and Tina/Jer took all the kid cuteness for themselves and I won't be able to compete when I have kids!

She's just the most darling little pixie!

Daddy is taking care of Ella, who is sick, while Mommy is at a friend's wedding.  Love her set-up on the couch. Reminds me of when our mom would take care of us when we were sick!

What. A. STUD.

 Let the BBQ's begin!

Jessame made an amazing Sunday night dinner of BBQ chicken, cheesy potatoes, asparagus, and homemade (gluten-free) macaroons!

And this is what happens when you let friends look at your phone. 

Straight up BYU thug.

Style Upgrades

I had the same comforter on my bed for 12 years.  Many of you know exactly which one I am talking about- the red down comforter.  I decided it was time to get a bedroom set.  I feel surprisingly more grown-up now.  But I'm not getting rid of my red blankie.

Went on a shopping trip with my Mom and walked away with these cuties (thanks, Mom!) which both my sisters also own!

 Cool

Fruit bouquet from Angela and Mark

 Relief Society Spring Social

Our stake relief society does an amazing job with the annual stake social! So lovely.

My only complaint was the lemonade was just for decoration!

We heard a babrbershop women's quartet, "Simply Sassy."  They were so fun to watch. What performers!

Chris Williams, whose pregnant wife and 2 of their 4 kids were killed when hit by a teenage drunk driver, spoke to us.  I was filled with so many emotions as I listened to him speak about the pain and the forgiveness he felt.  It's so incredibly difficult to wrap my head around what happened to him and how he pressed forward. So grateful for his example!

tARTanFEST

We had our annual arts fest at Highland this week.  The Highland Arts Council did an incredible job.  They decorated with banners made out of old music!  I wish I could show more pictures of the event, but I'll try to describe it.  They had art demonstrations set up with students throwing pots, molding sculptures, drawing with colored pencils, and face painting.  They had a theater stage with kids performing scenes and monologues. They had two stages with instrumentalists, vocalists, and dancers performing a huge variety of music.  They had galleries set up of kids' art work and people passing around mint chocolate brownies from BYU and lemonade.  Everyone had a wonderful time watching the performances and coming and going as they pleased.  It was possible to enjoy a little of everything.  They are excited to continue with this idea next year and add even more exciting elements like BBQ and a dance with live music at the end.