'Twas a Happy Birthday

This year marked the beginning of my 28th year. To celebrate, a Pre-Birthday, Birthday dinner, and Post-Birthday dinner were enjoyed with friends and family.

Monday night, Joseanne and Stef prepared a delicious taco salad dinner to share with Conz and Brandon, Brock and I. Then after home evening at my bishop's home, we all reconvened with Andrew, Rach and Kai at their home for cupcakes and wassail. Conz made themed cupcakes that wowed us all (pics coming from Brock's camera). There were ferocious sharks, squishy octopi, lifeguard rings and more. I have such thoughtful and kind friends and family.

Wednesday, the actual birthday, Brock prepared a delicious shrimp "Ratatouille" (that's what I like to call it) and gourmet green beans for dinner. Dinner was then followed by divine homemade lime custard made with fresh squeezed limes. He then surprised me with a trip to the ice skating rink. I love to ice skate in the winter, and it was even more fun with Brock. The night was not over after ice skating... Dad had come in town earlier in the day, so we got to drive up to the Skeen home where we visited with Dad, Andrew and Rach for a bit before it got too late. It was a very good birthday. I am a very lucky girl.

Thursday, post-birthday, Dad took us all (the Skeens, Brock and I) out to dinner at Carrabba's Italian Grill. Dad and I both enjoyed a ginormous plate of lobster linguine. Everyone's dishes were delish. Then we went for ice cream at Cold Stone and let Kai run around the mall for a bit. It was really nice to get to have dad here to celebrate this year- it's been some time since he's been in the same state on my birthday!

In all, it was a GRAND start to my 28th year. I am most grateful for good parents who gave me life and provided a loving home to grow in, super siblings who are examples and so fun to have as forever friends, many dear friends of past and present who so thoughtfully remembered me with a phone call or digital message, and an incredible boyfriend who continues to bring even more joy into my life. It's great to be 28!

Take a Hike, a First, and a Visit

Hike: In early November, we had some random blissfully warm days and we hiked to the Y! Not only was a nice evening with short-sleeve temperatures, but we enjoyed an amazing sunset over Utah lake.

First: Brock's ward had a chili cook-off, so we entered with some White Chicken Chili. The best part was testing it until we got the spicy and cream balance just right. It must have been a good balance, because our chili took 1st place!!! Our prize was party poppers.

Visit: DeEtte came to town! Her job requires that she make occasional trips to Salt Lake City, and this time, though her trip was extremely compact, she made a point to come visit me! She is such a dear friend. It was a privilege to spend some time with her.

Not the Hair!!!

The eve of Brock's haircut, Joseanne and I had the honor of straightening his hair. It really was supposed to be a favor for the hair stylist, but she has other magic techniques.

What do you think?

I like the curls :)

Happy it's in the past

A lot has been happening on this home front...

Last month (wow. yes. it's been that long), Brock got pretty sick... we thought it was just a bad cold or strep... then there was vomiting, so we thought it was the flu... then he ended up in the ER, and we learned it was a more serious infection from there.

We are grateful he is feeling much better than this now! Thank you for the prayers in his behalf. Really.

After a day at the hospital, Rach and Andrew had us over for dinner, along with our dear friend, Ann. We love spending time with them!

Happy Halloween!

Just in time for trick-or-treating, we spent the eve of Halloween with Kaili, Andrew and Rachel. Kaili was an adorably energetic and giggly lady bug this year. She knows a lot about candy for a 21-month-old! She loves it.

Andrew and Rachel were heroic ninjas, taking her to more than 6 houses after only planning on 3! After trick-or-treating, Brock and Rach made incredible homemade carmel that we dipped apples in. Gourmet goodness. Don't hesitate to beg Rach for the recipe. Your life will improve by at least 10 points.

On Halloween day, Joseanne, Steph and I made Dinner-in-a-Pumpkin and had Brock and his roommates over for a costume-by-name evening meal. The pumpkin and goolash were tasty. I think I will make this a tradition.

grateful

It's still weeks until Thanksgiving, but I think I'm well overdue in creating a gratitude post. Here's the beginning to a list to be lengthened:

In no particular order, I am grateful for...

• Colors
• Time (even little bits of it)
• Good health
• Scriptures
• A kind and genuinely good boyfriend (a true friend)
• Faith in Jesus Christ
• A true and living Prophet and Apostles
• Sweet roommates
• Words
• Sunshine on crisp Fall days
• Morning runs with Conz and Steph
• Sincere and helpful Professors
• Neighbors
• Meaningful work and inspiring co-workers
• Life's experiences (past and present)
• Team-working classmates
• Smiles
• Loyal friends of past and present
• My little trials
• Temples and Covenants
• Uplifting and beautiful music
• Loving and thoughtful parents
• Laughter and expression
• Wheels
• Thoughtful siblings and their precious kids
• Ear-warming flaps on my hat

ten pianos and tons of rocks

Are you familiar with the Suzuki Method? Brock and I went to the Ten Pianos Suzuki Concert at the Conference Center on Friday night. It was a prelude performance to the big mult-instrument concert that would take place on Saturday.

Here's the Picture for You: 10 Steinway pianos, dozens of piano students from age 3 up to 19, Suzuki-esque Bows to start and end each piece performed, parents and grandparents, teachers and siblings, Brock and I in the audience.

It was actually a really cute and impressive recital. You could close your eyes and forget there were 12-20 hands (6-10 pianists) playing, because they sounded as one! They even played a special number written by Jon Schmidt, All of Me, 10 student (ages 10-19) all in sync! The rest of the concert brought back memories of plunking away on the piano as the family patiently listened to me prepare for lessons and seasonal piano recitals at the Dance's home.

After the concert, we enjoyed some time on beautiful temple square, running into the stellar sister missionaries. Then we joined Ross, Brock's brother, for ice cream at Maggie Moo's. I recommend the chocolate mint with oreos and the red velvet with raspberries!

To put a bandaid on the photo-less night, Joseanne kindly took a few when we returned home. This is Brock's favorite:

Fall is nearing an end and Winter is quick on it's way, SO we combined powers with Connie and Brandon for outdoor adventure, Rock Climbing and Dutch Over Dinner up Provo Canyon.

It was quite busy on all the popular (and simple) climbs, so we found ourselves searching in places were were not too familiar with, looking for a spot. This led to a nice warm up as we scrambled up then slid down some sketchy look mountain. Brandon and Brock are much better and skiing down rocky hills than Conz and I. No injuries.

We soon found a place that opened up... Andrew and Rach might remember this climb. I think it's Rachel's favorite. After doing this route, I only have added amazement at my sister's skillz. Woot woot Rach!

This was Brock's first outdoor climb, and he ROCKED it!

Meet the Dutch Oven Chef, Brockolee.

Meet the delicious chicken enchiladas... they were followed by chocolate cherry dutch oven cake. Yet another first (c. enchiladas in the dutch oven)- Way to go, Brock!

We had a great time with Conz and Brandon (sorry we failed to snap a photo of us all). Beautiful place, excellent company, delicious food.

kim kame 2 town!

In case you were not informed in a previous post, Kim is a dear from from DC, and she has an amazing voice. She came to Utah to sing at a DC friend's reception in... Provo! We got to spend a little bit of time together, including a visit to Temple Square where we went to Music and the Spoken Word. The morning we went happened to be a special one, as Gov. Herbert, was presenting a recognition for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the new state day for Music and the Spoken Word. Along with Gov. Herbert, many local and national leaders came to view the concert, including President Thomas S. Monson!

Kim and I then spent some time visiting before I left SLC, and we caught the fountains in front of the Church Office Building just at the right time!

It was so nice to see and spend time with Kim. She is an incredible woman and a special friend.

Lil Cottonwood and Oktoberfest

Saturday, we drove up Little Cottonwood Canyon, south of SLC to Snowbird where Oktoberfest (German festival) took place. On the way up, Brock captured a few beautiful shots of the leaves on either side of the canyon. It is such a pretty time of year, which helps decrease the sadness that it's becoming quite cold outside.

We bought these awesome hats (German?) at the festival for a great deal after watching a Champion Yo-Yo Man and a true German Chopstik juggler in Lederhosen . So, a new favorite pic is here. The hats will help welcome in Winter. Good day.

Moved and Moved

So there are more pictures to post from this past month after moving back to UT officially than I can manage right now. Rather than taking the time I can't, but fulfilling my duties, here's a quick update that will hopefully be edited for improvement before the end of this month. No promises.

• Living with the Skeens (Andrew, Rach and Kaili) in PG was ideal. They were so good to me, and I could never get home too early- I loved spending time with Rach and Kai in the early evenings. I even got to be on pick-up duty after Kai's daycare on days that Rach was running behind. I can't be grateful enough for the time I got to spend at the Skeen home!

• Started my graduate program at BYU. Instructional Psychology and Technology is the department. I am thoroughly enjoying my associations with excellent instructors and peers. There is quite a variety within the student body in terms of background and age, which I really like. There is even a man in his late 60's or early 70's auditing my programming class! In the next couple months I should be able to nail down my master's project plan, which is really exciting. Most don't start this until later on in the program, but I've got a good feel for the direction I'd like to move in and an early start can't hurt.
• Working as an Instructional Design Assistant at the Center for Teaching and Learning under the direction of my friend, Tonya, has been grand. Again, the faculty in the center are outstanding, and I really like the projects that I am working on. My main project (developing a social/academic networking discussion board) helps to support my other job as an IPT287 Instructor, which is awesome. Additionally, the CTL hours count toward internship credits. I'm very grateful for this opportunity and am convinced this was handed to me from the Lord in many ways.
• Instructing an undergraduate technology integration course has been a good experience as well. I really enjoy many of the student interactions that I have, although it has also been eye-opening and slightly disappointing to see some less-than-ideal characteristics surface in many of the students. I am determined to exude positive energy to help inspire them to love learning and the challenges that come with building new skills.
• Moving to P-Town just over a week ago has been good. I miss the Skeens, but it's been less of a drive and has helped me be able to put more hours into work and school. Also I started dating Brock. He and I were friends a few years ago before I moved to teach in VA. We went on our first date at the beginning of September and have enjoyed getting to know each other more since. It's really good to be able to spend more time with him since I live closer now. He's kind, happy, smart, funny, talented, awesome (that includes a lot) and more. Simply put, I like him.

these are the best pics we have yet... enjoy :)

Wrapping up summer family days...

After our family trip to Potholes, we had a little more time together for naps and playing with the cute kid cousins. Time was short with everyone needing to depart for their various new (and old) stations, so we packed in some siging, dancing, playing and even managed to delay one flight for several hours.

Maea taught the nieces fun tricks!

All too soon...

Maea returned to her sunny local of diving and school in NV

Abes (Andrew) and Rach to their abode, work and anniversary in UT

Brian, Megan and Hayden to their routine a few miles from Mom and Dad's

Kristen, Kev, Madi and Shayne to their new pharmacy school life in VT WY Nevada!

Jenni and Kaili to stay and play with Mom and Dad (Grama and Grampa)!Yes, we convinced Abes and Rach to leave Kaili with us to play while they returned to UT and celebrated their 3-year anniversary together!

Highlights with Kaili and Grandparents included many walks to the park (with Joey of course), morning dance parties in the living room, playing at the YMCA gym, a stop at CeFiore for delicious frozen yogurt with Grandma, and Canoeing on Lake Washington up the Mercer slew (Kaili even got wet!).

A few days later, Kaili and I had a great flight to SLC together. We watched "UP," played with a flashlight and read a book she loves. She did such a great job. Andrew and Rachel met us at the airport... Kaili was SOOOO happy to hug her Mommy again!!!

What a truly grand summer, best of all spent with family. I finally felt ready to face the reality of the big move far from Virginia. What a blessing it has been to have Andrew, Rach and Kai to welcome me back to the Wasatch front as I begin to journey through grad school.