Hey Hey We're the Haycocks

Summer 2010

2011-03-20T13:07:00.000-07:00

SUMMER SCHOOL

The summer was an adventure once Josh got back from his Marine Biology trip in Oregon. Just before he came home I finished up an art class and a philosophy class at UVU and taught six weeks of summer school at Provost Elementary. I helped with the kids as they went on neat field trips: miniature golfing and bumper car-ing at Trafalga, bird watching at the Tracy Aviary, and bowling at Fat Cats. At school we would work with pottery and watercolors, build terrariums, draw lots of pictures with sidewalk chalk, cook up some goodies, or go outside to play field games. It added a lot of fun (and a little stress) to the summer.

TRIPLEX CAMPING
One of our summer nights was spent camping with the Triplex+ in the backyard. The Triplex consisted of the Kmetzchs, the Heiners, us and the "plus" meant that the Bergmanns came along too. We set up the projector and watched a movie in front of our tents. Except for the occasional mosquitoes it was really fun. Well, anything is especially fun when you have Pam and Quinn laughing and making funny comments the whole time. In the morning we had an incredible breakfast and then something truly wonderful happened. As we were eating I heard drums, like marching band drums. Like those snare and quads and basses that are so familiar to me from the days when I was 5 0r 6 years old living in Orem and I'd wake up to the sound of early morning sprinklers and Orem High School drumline practicing. Best alarm clock ever. As I listened I realized that the drums were getting louder and all of a sudden the cadence ended and the marching band kicked in. If you don't know, I. LOVE. MARCHING. BANDS. I tore across the backyard, skidded around the corner of the house, and ran to the end of our block where the blessed Provo H.S. marching band was sleepily marching down 300 East. In my hot pink shorts, florescent blue Cookie Monster shirt and disheveled hair I cheered on those poor, grumpy teenagers at 8 o'clock on a Saturday morning. "Thank You! THANK YOU!!" I kept yelling and clapping. The kids gave me dirty looks and the adult instructors gave me crooked smiles and half-hearted waves but I was so happy and so thankful to witness a mini parade. Best morning ever.

FREEDOM FESTIVAL

The 4th of July was the best time to go out in the city and enjoy all of the holiday celebrations. With Grant and Jill we walked around Center Street to look at all of the vendors and carnival rides, the reptile show, and the Scouting booth with its different animal track prints and its log sawing competition. Jill and I challenged Grant and Josh to a sawing competition...and barely lost. I'll go ahead and say that we lost by the hair of a saw dust, it was that close. Well, that's how I remember it...
On the glorious morning of the last day of the Freedom Festival, Josh and I drove up to the parking lot of Y mountain to watch the hot air balloons take off. It was "maegical" (as an Aussie might say had he or she been watching with us). Once our tummies started rumblin' we marched down to the Provo Bakery for our traditional box of glazed doughnuts. Life doesn't get much better than eating Provo Bakery doughnuts while watching the Freedom Days parade. To our dismay, they were closed on Mondays (Provo was skipping celebrations on Sunday to have a 5th of July parade). Josh was devastated. My salivating taste buds were upset. So we dejectedly walked over to Smith's grocery store for some "guess these'll have to do" doughnuts. In the end, they satisfied the need.
We watched the parade outside Jarom's apartment on the couches they had pulled onto the lawn. Cousin Whitney came by to watch it with us and then eventually Grant made it too. Despite the blistering heat we had lots of fun. The doughnuts and the marching bands helped.

MORE TIME WITH THE ENSIGNS
As if we hadn't already had enough of Grant and Jill, we continued to squeeze in every last moment with our best friends. Our favorite activity was camping near the base of Mount Timpanagos. We enjoyed laying in the unlit parking lot, talking about the stars and scary noises, roasting banana boats in the rain, and playing Phase 10 in the stuffy, wet-sock-smelling tent. And it was a special treat, that summer, to have Grant and Jill over for dinner with a surprise trombone serenade from both of them after dessert.

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA
In July we drove out to Sacramento to visit Josh's paternal grandparents. In the beginning we thought it would be the greatest idea if we got ice cream at each gas station we stopped at. By the time we hit Wendover it wasn't such a brilliant idea.
While in California we drove up to Polluck Pines so Josh could show me where he grew up. We went to see his old house and the bowling alley next to Ashley's dance studio where Josh would play arcade games with his friends.
We visited Lake Tahoe where we enjoyed a picnic with a stunning view. I couldn't get over how big and how blue the lake was. It made our Top Ten list of places to live....or just visit until we can afford to live there.

Most of the weekend was spent visiting Josh's family and friends. We went fishing with Josh's best friend Matt. It was hot but fun, even though Matt was the only one who actually hooked and reeled in a fish.
With Pa and Mayma we drove up to Apple Hill and shopped at one of the numerous Farmer's Markets along the road. We devoured carmel apples and apple pies and enjoyed the most delicious corn and watermelon for dinner. Homegrown tastes sooo good! Pa and Mayma also took us to see the Sacramento temple where they were working. It's a beautiful temple with quite a bit of history. It's so neat to me that the Haycocks were a part of that history.
Our evenings with Pa and Mayma were spent exploring the acreage around their house, looking at baby pictures of Josh, listening to their stories of Josh's childhood adventures, and doing Thomas Kinkade puzzles. They were so good to us--cooking incredible food and sharing so much love. We had a great time with them.

12 June 2010

2010-10-10T11:34:00.000-07:00

My best friend Jill is incredible. Not only does she have numerous qualities that I admire about her but she's a hard-core runner. She won't admit it but I really think she is. Jill has run four marathons--and I think that is outstanding.

I have wanted to be like Jill. So when I suggested one night that we should run a half-marathon together she got excited. And then I got more excited. And then we started talking wildly about training for a half-marathon in the summer. And while Grant sweetly encouraged us, Josh just looked at me incredulously and laughed. Why do spouses need to know your bad habits of procrastination and minimal self-motivation? And his laughter strengthened my fury and fire of desire....for a month. I don't remember exactly during which winter month Jill and I had decided to run the race but I remember thinking I had plenty of time to train and that it was too cold to start right then.

Once it started warming up outside, Jill and I ran more frequently together. But then it started getting hot... Well, you get the picture. Our training may not have been consistent but it was enjoyable for the most part. I enjoyed listening to Jill talk and talk and talk while I puffed along beside her. And I think she enjoyed our extra long cool-down walks as I responded to everything she talked about while we were running. Running through Provo was beautiful. We went through cemeteries, by old historic houses, up through new neighborhoods and parks, and once up 1/20th of the trail of Y mountain (that one didn't work out so well). Jill helped to make training fun.

And I certainly wished that we had done more of it when the phone alarm went off at 3:30am on Saturday, the 12th of June. I'd had this date on my calendar circled a thousand times. But when the alarm went off I realized, "Why was I ever looking forward to this day?" The feeling of dread was worse than walking to the testing center, worse than getting pricked by a needle, worse than...eating beans. I knew that agony would come but I didn't know how and I didn't know when.

It was a cold, wet, and anxious morning for Jill and I. She came over not long after I woke up and we drove through the misty rain together to Provo Towne Center Mall. We took a quick picture together (in case we would never have another again) and loaded onto the buses, armed with bananas and bagels. Someone up above was watching out for us as we realized at nearly the last minute that we were standing in line for the bus headed to the full-marathon starting line. We leaped out of line and stumbled through the crowd to find the correct bus. As my mama had told me while she drove me to the MTC and as we watched buses of fresh, excited missionaries leave the parking lot, "This reminds me of groups of people tricked by the Nazis into going to concentration camps." I felt uneasy on the bus as we slowly drove up University Avenue to Provo Canyon. I had alternating surging needs to vomit and go to the bathroom. Jill, who's slightly nervous face brought me a little comfort, danced her feet on the bus floor with anxiety.

The bus made a u-turn just south of the tunnel in the canyon which was just south of the turn off to Sundance Resort. Lined along the walls of the canyon were multitudes of portable potties. And nearly twice the length of the Great Wall of Potties was the urgently dancing line to get into them. Jill and I managed to find two empty stalls and then headed over to the moving truck where we tossed in our bags carrying our personal belongings (again, reminding me of something at a concentration camp). We tried to squeeze as close as we could to the fire pits while we punched holes in the garbage bags we'd kept with us. They were noisy bags but protected us from the chilly wind and mist coming through the canyon.

Finally it was time to line up....and wait. The anticipation was driving me mad. I kept thinking, "I'm freezing! What am I doing out here? It's so stinkin' cold and ridiculously early! What am I doing out here?!!" The start time of the race kept getting pushed back which made us all a little anxious. Eventually it was time for the countdown and the crowd of us were pumped and ready. "Three..two...one...BANG!" And then we stood there. What would it take to be able to get a whole crowd to move at once? Finally we were able to start a little shuffle and then a trot as we crossed the Starting line and began the race.

It was beautiful. The sun was barely beginning to lighten the sky so the mountains were still dark and cozy. We swished, swished, swished our way further up the crowd. People gave us dirty looks for having such noisy garbage bag ponchos but they were retaining heat and keeping most of the drizzle off. Jill and I ended up taking them off around the 2 mile marker. After that the run was even more beautiful and quiet! For me, it was the most incredible run I'd ever experienced. It was peaceful and made me feel connected to everything yet isolated at the same time. It was special.

By mile 4, it wasn't so special. I was really starting to question why people did this for fun. I was getting a little tired and just sick at the idea that I was less than 1/3 the way through the race. But Jill pushed us on. We straightened our posture and made extra determined looks as we passed the photo site. We pumped our fists as people cheered for us along the grassy area in front of Riverwoods. The worst part of all, though, was passing people. Now, we did a fair share of walking (thanks to Jill's patience with me) but when we'd start up again she would make me push along further. In her terribly sweet voice she'd say, "Now, let's try and catch up to that group up there....See if we can pass this girl in the green...Let's catch up to that guy in black." It was so frustrating. I wanted to turn to her and say, "No Jill. I'm not running any harder, not opening my stride any further--I am happy where I am. Actually, I'm just planning on finishing the race on my feet and not a stretcher." But I'd follow her (sometimes a bit behind) and we would pass people. We could do it! I can think of only a few people who managed to pass us.

One of the mile markers had a table of bananas, oranges, Powerade, and water for us. Jill suggested that I eat an orange but they were cut in wedges and I prefered to eat my oranges sliced and I didn't want my saliva to get all thick inside so I couldn't breathe and wait, why did I grab one, I'd put it in my mouth and OH MY HEAVENS THIS IS DELICIOUS! I devoured that poor orange slice like it was a turkey leg on Thanksgiving, a plate of spaghetti after fasting, a Burger Supreme gyro after logging in 39 miles of biking/running (images of Gollum eating fish on Lord of the Rings should come to mind). That orange slice was the sweetest bit of heaven I had ever tasted and its goodness renewed my energy.

Not long after we were crossing University Parkway and then the Flower Basket boutique, and then Zions Bank on the corner of 200 North. I was very tempted to simply turn left and run straight back to the house. My legs were on automatic but they felt weird. They were tight but felt close to Jell-O. But I realized that we were almost there. I had run over nine miles already. I was doing this! And then I began to get choked up. I was proud of myself for having made it so far. I was happy to be able to share this with Jill. And I was thankful for our healthy bodies. I became so emotional that I couldn't breathe well with my throat constricting and it was really slowing me down. So I did my best to control my emotions but there were several times afterward that I got caught up in the moment, in the emotion as I accomplished my overwhelming goal.

The worst part of the race came around mile 10. I was dreading the gigantic bridge over the railroad tracks. We were so close to the end but it really did feel so far away. I felt awesome running in front of all the people lined along the streets but I was about done with the whole race. Jill continued to push me and we braved ourselves for the bridge.

To my extreme delight we found Craig waiting by the lamp post at the base of that dreaded bridge. He whipped out his camera as we ran by. It made me so happy and filled me with renewed determination to persevere (that and somebody was now watching me so I had to run well). Jill continued to push me and we continued to pass people. The entrance to the mall was a lot further than I had anticipated and I was starting to get frustrated. It was even more frustrating to have to run all the way around the front parking lot so we could pass in front of the main entrance to the mall. But as soon as we turned the last corner and I could see the Finish line ahead I took off at a sprint. I wanted for it to be done and, most of all, I wanted to beat Jill. It would have just been the cherry on top to have gone all that way and smoked her at the last leg. But to my shock and worriment, Jill kept up. It took her a split second before she realized what I was doing and she immediately turned on her burners. I tried my hardest but in the end it literally was a photo finish. Both of our legs were in stride crossing over the line. (The time posted on the internet showed that Jill beat me by 1/100th of a second--her foot with the sensor crossed before mine.)

The whole experience was made worthwhile after I was able to get my chocolate Creamy popsicle. We meandered around, picking up our medals, snatching up plates of pizza slices or Red Robin fries. Grant and Craig found us and we chatted with them through clattering teeth. Jill and I were freezing! After pictures and lots of laughs everyone left and I stayed to get a quick little rub down at the massage tables. Then I went home and had a nice, long hot shower. I had completed a half-marathon and it was an incredible feeling and I was able to share the whole thing with my great friend Jill!

That one time when I was in the car with Grant and Jill for 25+ hours

2010-08-15T16:38:00.000-07:00

p

i

I don't know how common it is to enjoy every minute of an eleven hour car ride but with Grant and Jill Ensign every moment was entertaining! We drove up to Portland to visit Josh over Memorial Day weekend. The drive from Provo to Boise and through Eastern Oregon was one of the most fun roadtrips I've been on yet! Whatever self-built barriers we had prior to the trip were obliterated as we slowly lost our minds on the long drive. We talked, listened to music, played games, teased Grant about losing every ABC game we played, sang numerous songs really loud, talked some more, giggled, then giggled uncontrollably, then started crying... It was a hilarious drive up to Portland!
The last few hours were rather intense for me. I was anxious to see Josh (since I hadn't seen him for four weeks) and I was anxious for Jill as she bravely drove along the Columbia River Gorge in a downpour. She safely got us to the hotel where we met Josh. I was so happy! After settling into our rooms we let the GPS guide us to a good place to eat--Buffalo Wild Wings. We hungrily devoured our food and caught one of the NBA playoff games. Afterwards, we drove across the Willamette to tour around Portland and check out the Rose Festival carnival. We spent most of the time driving around in circles trying to get to the place we wanted to park. We awkwardly snatched the spot and walked in the drizzle down to the water front. The whole park was covered in mud. Jill was picking her way through in her new white tennis shoes and I was climbing up Josh to avoid getting my sandals sucked into the mud pits. We were cold and damp but the carnvial lights were beautiful and helped make the whole adventure fun. We found a little zoo where they displayed a huge porcupine, a gigantic Bengal tiger, a juvenile lion, and a super creepy reptile room. The boys spent a lot of time in the reptile room while Jill and I stared in amazement (and suspense) at the tiger. It was being kept in a cage of pencil-thin metal bars and plastic tie-downs. It didn't seem very stable or safe--so we stood there and stared anyways.
The main event we were waiting for at the Festival was the Lighting of the Bridge, the Lighting of the Rose, and the fireworks. We stood huddled in a fairly small group as we waited for the highly anticipated Lighting of the Bridge. The four of us couldn't wait to see beautiful white lights draped along the bridge or whatever stunning decor the city had planned. At the end of the countdown, the bridge we were looking at on our right didn't change. We looked around and followed the stares and pitiful "OOooos" to the bridge on our left whose concrete pillars were being teased with fading lavendar, rose, and blush colored lights. It was a huge disappointment. But it prepared us for the Lighting of the Rose behind us which was nothing but flipping the switch to the neon lights. Lame. So we were ready to leave before the fireworks even started. It must be noted that Grant and Jill are firework conessieurs and we've learned our lesson from taking them to firework shows that don't meet their high standards and expectations. I so badly wanted to electrify them with my beloved Portland city and felt that a lame show would start them off with a horrible impression desperately in need of redemption. Well, redemption was able to save its grace for another day because the fireworks show was off the hook! The lameness of the previous events was directly related to the 1% of the budget used for non-firework displays. They shot incredible fireworks from off of a boat in the river for 45 minutes! Grant and Jill were actually getting tired of the spectacular but long show. The four of us cheered loud for the big ones, hoping to put an end to it so we could get out of the cold rain but the fireworks had the Energizer bunny as their champion. We endured and were grateful.
The next morning we drove to Shari's (one of my favorite places to eat on the mission) and played Go Fish while we waited for breakfast. The food was not so great but they serve pie there 24 hours a day so it made up for the tasteless forkfulls of breakfast--even though we never ended up ordering a slice of pie. After breakfast we drove to Multnomah Falls (another one of my favorite places). Again, we walked around damp and cold from all the spray coming off of the water. The waterfall was so beautiful and definitely worth it. Grant and Jill hiked to the very top while Josh and I enjoyed some time together on a bench in an outlook.
We then drove back across the river and made our way around town and up to Washington Park. We walked around the Rose Gardens enjoying the soggy sunshine. While the dad in Jill made her want to hike to the top of Multnomah Falls, the dad in me made me stop at every rose bush and take pictures. The gardens were filled with stunning rhododendron bushes and rows and rows of rose bushes (I'm rather tickled by that line). After meandering through the gardens we drove through the gorgeous hillside neighborhoods and made our way down to 23rd Street for some incredible window shopping. We found a beautiful dress shop, a thrift store that left us with a bad feeling we couldn't put our finger on, kitchen stores, furniture stores, and a soap store celebrating a grand opening with a band, finger food, and wine. The placed was fun, festive, and packed. We stayed long enough for Jill to have an awkwardly large glob of lotion spill down her pants and shoes. Then it was on to lunch at Pizza Schmizza for delicious margharita and meat-lovers pizzas, embarassing videos, and lots and lots of laughs.
We spent the evening driving to the Oregon Coast and picking out the perfect camping spot at Cannon Beach. Josh and I had camped there two years earlier on our first wedding anniversary. Now we were celebrating our third year anniversary and couldn't have picked better company. The four of us set up our tents and then wandered down to the beach. It was a nice, chilly evening on the coast which made a hot chocolate treat aftwards a perfect ending to the night.

The next morning it rained so we all crammed into one humid and stinky tent to watch Wall E on a computer. When we woke up again we headed down to the beaches to walk around. Josh took the opportunity to astound us all with his knowledge of sea creatures and their scientific names. It was neat to listen to him tell us every detail he knew about each jellyfish, crab, seaweed, seal, sand dollar, and sea star. The beaches went on for miles and miles (as most beaches do). It was really nice to be able to spend that quality time with Josh just meandering up and down the beach. We were going to have our lunch of hot soups with bread and brie (provided by Safeway) on the beach but we decided to grab a warm, dry hotel room and eat it there instead. The hotel room was nice except for the fact that the room decor was hideous (I'm changing my major to hotel decor) and the hotel was next to a store with a giant picture of Bigfoot on it. Despite the numerous songs I made up of Sasquatch/Bigfoot/Harry from Harry and the Hendersons on the drive up to Oregon, I really am scared of finding it. He's creepy and ugly. I hate him--and was teased constantly about it throughout the trip.

The next day, after spending a pleasant night enjoying the sound of rain from inside our warm hotel room, we walked around the shops and candy stores of Cannon Beach and Seaside. The climax was eating at Mo's for dinner. One of Josh's favorite traditions is eating a heaping bowl of hot, sandy clam chowder at Mo's. I became converted when we came out to the Coast for our two years ago and now we were happy to share the tradition with Grant and Jill.

The trip was too short but we had a really great time. I've never laughed so hard, so often! One of the highlights was making Grant nearly throw up from laughing so hard! Oh...good times. We left Josh in Portland to wait for his ride down to Coos Bay, four hours south of Portland. Actually, we said our goodbyes at the Best Buy which made us think it was just like the BuyMore from the TV show Chuck. That made the goodbyes seem cooler and more bearable.

The drive back to Provo was a little sad but still pleasant nonetheless. Grant and Jill deserve kudos for driving the eleven hours straight home. It was exhausting for all of us but made for a happy ending to a happy weekend.

Bijou Market Spring 2010

2010-08-12T09:11:00.000-07:00

The Bijou Market was held on the 5th of June this year. I love the Saturday market feel of the craft show. For the most part, the creators try to keep it relaxed and enjoyable. It's good if you want something fun to do on a Saturday afternoon; it's bad if you want your handmade goods snatched up in a shopping frenzy.

This spring it was held at the Cherry Hill mansion in Orem again. The booths were set up throughout the orchard. In the center the organizers had placed large patio chairs, blankets, floor pillows, and magazines so you could relax and enjoy the afternoon. Just behind the craft fair was a roped off area for the owner's horse to meander around. The atmosphere was picturesque!

Grant, Jill, and I worked hard to creatively display the onesies, shirts, pennant banners, canvas boards, and tea towels. I think we did a great job with what we had to work with. I couldn't have pulled it all off without Grant and Jill. They were lifesavers!

While He Was Gone: St. George and Las Vegas

2010-08-09T12:58:00.000-07:00

While Josh was frolicking through the rocky tide pools of chilly Coos Bay, I made a solo trip down to visit some of my best girlfriends. With plenty of snacks, my favorite music (don't even be embarrassed that I brought my NSYNC cds), and a trusty GPS, the four-hour drive wasn't so bad.

I first stopped in St. George to meet up with my old college buddy, Pacha, and her fabulous new roommates. They were all so amiable and funny. Pacha and I stayed up talking outside, catching up on everything. It was really nice to talk for hours and cover all that's happened in the last four years. The best part, I have to say, was when she showed that the baseball fields they used for filming the second High School Musical movie were right across the street from her house! I may or may not have giggled like a 7th-grade girl as she later gave me a tour of the resort, pool, and golf course where they filmed a majority of HSM2. So great!

The next day we went to the St. George temple together. As we were walking in, I ran into my first mission president and his wife who I hadn't seen in five years. The Westons were so nice to remember my name. It was exciting to see them again.

Our session was wonderful. It was really neat to be in a gorgeously decorated 140-year old temple and to think about all the incredible people who built it and the amazing things that happened inside.

Rachel and I took pictures outside and it couldn't have been a more beautiful day. The temple looked like a cake! I love that Pacha and I are both wearing glasses. There are so many good memories with the Martels and their eye glasses...

On Saturday afternoon I drove another two hours down to Las Vegas to visit Josh and Willow Batt. They gave me the royal treatment while I stayed with them. We went out to dinner at a new sushi restaurant near their home. There were about a hundred different kinds of rolls and they all had scandalous names. I won't even tell you what some of the names were but it made the menu a rather entertaining piece of reading material. After our delicious dinner we walked around the outdoor malls. The three of us strolled into my favorite store, Anthropologie, where Willow came across a flowering pot that she had created. Apparently she didn't realize that her work was being showcased in the window display of Anthropologie! Willow is such an amazing artist/designer/creator/iceskater/cook/yogini/decorator/photographer/choreographer/model/woman. I love being around Willow because she's an inspiring person to be with. Some people have a certain place they like to go to where they think and find refreshment; my place is anywhere with Willow.
Later that night we went to Whole Foods Market and bought cacao powder, coconut oil, and almond butter to make homemade chocolate. It was delicious and literally melted in our mouths. The rest of my weekend was spent hiking around the red rock, playing games with their friends, coloring and drawing with Willow, sweating through a fantastic yoga class (taught by Willow, of course), having thoughtful conversations, going for a trot through the nature preserve, driving around the Strip, eating good food, and watching Willow practice her graceful ice skating routine. It was so nice to be with the Batts again. They are great friends!

New York, NEW YORK!

2010-08-08T16:21:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of May I went on a Girl's Trip with the ladies of my In-Law's family. Kim, Dana, Ashley, and I flew out of Salt Lake City to meet up with Lucia, Angela, Judy, and Anna in New York City. I was a bawling mess in the airport since I was leaving Josh a few days before he drove out to the Oregon Coast for the next six weeks. For me it was heart-wrenching. We had been side-by-side for the past two and a half years. The last time he left it was only for a weekend trip to Georgia. So this separation was a big deal for me.

But Josh made his absence a lot more bearable with a little surprise when I arrived at LaGuardia. I turned my phone on after we got off the plane and I discovered that I had a very sweet text message from him. Having a text on my phone was a foreign concept for me. As it turned out, Josh had added texting to my plan so we could communicate more frequently. I almost started crying all over again! It was so sweet and I immediately felt more connected to him.

Outside of the airport, Kim picked up a taxi cab for us. I'd never been in a cab before. And our driver was crazy! He was flying in and out of lanes, speeding through intersections, and everything else you might expect from a big city driver. I'm sure that our driver was like all the other NYC cab drivers but it felt like a roller coaster ride for me.

We spent our first night at the Belvedere hotel. It was old and regal and beautiful and fabulous! The four of us dropped our bags in our room and took off to grab a bite to eat. We found Carves and grabbed a slice of pizza. After our late-night snack we walked down to Times Square. I'd forgotten how crazy Saturday nights on Times Square could be. We meandered over to where our hotel for the next night would be (where we should've been staying tonight had it not been completely booked) and found the area all taped off with yellow police tape. People were crowded behind the barricade and I thought we were all gaping at a movie set. We asked one tall man what was going on and he said, "Umm, I'm not quite sure but there are rumors that there's a bomb." Oh...And we're all standing around staring at it. We kind of laughed incredulously and moved on. Back at the hotel room, we turned on the TV to discover that there had been a car bomb. Through the rest of the week the story unfolded to be the terrorist bomb that hadn't ever detonated. Faisal Shahzad was arrested days later just before his international flight took off. It was hard to believe that the whole thing was a real threat--it seemed too much like a movie.

Other than the bomb threat, the week was simply delightful and rather incredible! I could honestly say, "What didn't we do?!" Here's the list:

-breakfast at delis with romantic flowers along the outside wall
-gorgeous views from our 32nd floor room of the Marriott Marquis
-St. Patrick's Cathedral
-American Girl store
-Trump Towers
-Rockefeller Center
-Tiffany's
-Billy Elliott at the Imperial Theatre
-Museum of Modern Art
-lunch on a bench in Central Park
-carriage ride through Central Park
-hiding out from the rain in the Plaza Hotel
-Etsy craft night in Brooklyn
-5th Avenue shopping
-yoga class (with Elvis music) at Broadway Dance Center
-watching Ashley's dance classes at BDC
-The Cloister
-scary Canal Street
-fabulous shops like Madewell and Lululemon
-In the Heights starring Corbin Bleu
-"Top of the Roc" at night
-Ellis Island
-Statue of Liberty
-Battery Park and the Financial District
-Magnolia Bakery
-George Washington's pew and the 9/11 memorial in St. Paul's Cathedral
-Metropolitan Museum of Art
-seeing Matthew Morrison (Mr. Schuester) from GLEE at the Italian restaurant
-South Pacific at the Lincoln Center
-working out in our fabulous 11th floor gym
-another bomb threat on Friday
-reading The Lost City of Z in the lobby of the Marriott Marquis with my hazelnut/toffee steamer and fruit, cracker, and cheese platter from Starbucks
-Ashley freaking out about seeing Oprah, Gail, and Denzel Washington after his play
-stalking Elder Jeffrey R. Holland and his wife into the elevator as they got out of their taxi cab
-picking up almost a dollar in change from off the streets

Last Official Cousin Reunion

2010-07-19T17:55:00.000-07:00

This was our last official cousin reunion before everyone left the state of Utah. Lindsey is getting ready for a mission, Stetson is going to work in Brazil, Whitney is going to Boot Camp, Darcy is going to Korea, Jarom is going...to further his career somewhere, Craig is moving to Idaho Falls, and Josh and I are moving back to Georgia. And just like that the Cousins are going to dissolve.

So we celebrated one last time together by snacking and playing games in the park and going back to the Robinson's to play PIT. *sigh* Oh Cousins, thanks for the good times.

PS--Did you spy the "monkey" in the tree?

Darcy's 24th Birthday

2010-07-19T17:36:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Darcy's May birthday a little early since we would all be splitting separate ways this summer. Our priority was to pick out a decadent cupcake at The Cocoa Bean just down the road from us. Who could resist cupcakes such as: Marbled Chocolate Cream Cheese, Caramel Apple Pie, Luscious Lemon Raspberry, Party in My Mouth, and (my personal favorite) Better Than Whatever?! After spending a long time deciding, Darcy picked out the Grasshopper cupcake, I chose the Better Than Whatever cupcake, and Josh savored a delicious cup of raspberry hot chocolate.
We were the only ones in the cafe so, along with the cashier, we sang Happy Birthday to the Birthday Girl. It's tradition in my family to sing the Mexican birthday song "Las Mananitas" as well but since neither Josh nor I know the lyrics very well we just mumbled through a rather awful rendition.

After our cupcake treat we went to an authentic, hole-in-the-wall taqueria. While we ordered our tacos we turned to the TV as the Telenovela stars began singing "Las Mananitas"! It was perfect! and really, really funny! We laughed and laughed as Darcy was serenaded by a handsome, guitar-strumming movie star.

The Graduate

2010-04-25T16:22:00.000-07:00

This week has been Josh's special week. On Monday he finished his last day working at the worst call center on the face of the planet (well, that was my opinion when I worked there). We celebrated by opening his graduation present from my parents. Dad had asked me to pick up a Dremel tool for him at Home Depot. I had no idea what it was or what it looked like. I had to call Dad up and ask him what color the box was. He picked out the tool with the most "stuff" and asked if I thought Josh would like it. I had no idea. All I could say was, "Well, I wouldn't like it."
But from Josh's reactions, I think it's pretty obvious that he's very excited about owning his first power tool. He really likes revving up the motor.

On Tuesday we took our last final. We'd taken Human Biology together this semester. Josh rocked it and I...survived. After the test, we celebrated the last day of school by going to get milkshakes at the Malt Shoppe with Grant and Jill.

Wednesday morning Josh's parents came down from Midway to pick out a graduation gift with him. The poor boy had been pining over a mountain bike for months. He went to several local bike shops, spent hours online researching what he wanted out of a bike, and frequently called his biking buddy back home to get his opinion. I feel it's safe to say that the boy personified "lust" and "covetous". But Josh didn't know that his parents had already purchased a bike for him two months ago. They'd ordered a nicer bike than the ones he'd been drooling over. So when the four of us drove over to Mad Dog Cycles and they wheeled out his bike, Josh was confused and shocked. And then confused. And then really excited. Then ecstatic. And then shocked again.

Should I bother to share that he's been in a bad mood most of the week because it's been cold and rainy out here? Or should I admit that he's kept the bike next to his bed and greets it every time he walks in the room? I probably shouldn't. But I can say that I have a very relieved, satisfied, happy man now that he has his dream bike.

On Thursday, Josh and I grabbed a treat at the mall and then saw the movie "Oceans" to celebrate Earth Day. The movie was beautiful! Josh kept wiggling in his seat, getting excited over all the incredible animals we were watching. My favorite parts involved the crab war, the Spanish Dancer slug (no, it was beautiful and really cool), and the blanket octopus. Josh liked the bird missiles, the dolphins, and the whales. He said that the movie made him more excited for his marine biology research trip on the Oregon Coast. Having the opportunity to study marine biology is fulfilling a childhood dream for that boy. I'm so happy that he'll get to go for seven weeks this summer.

After the movie we threw on our nice clothes and drove to the Marriott Center for BYU's Commencement ceremony. I may or may not have gotten a little teary-eyed when he proudly walked into the arena in his cap and gown. That morning he'd given me the "I couldn't have done this without you" speech. "Yeah yeah...", I thought but he said, "No really. If we hadn't gotten married and you hadn't quit school and worked full time I would not have been able to dedicate so much time to my studies and gotten straight A's this semester, and done so well these past few semesters." Well, nothing like those kinds of words to ruin a girl's fresh makeup.

Elder Todd Christofferson was the Commencement speaker. My favorite piece of advice that he gave was: "If you have the Holy Ghost with you, you won't make a wrong choice without first being warned." Sound advice for a large group of graduates who have a million choices to make in the next few months.

The Relieved Couple

The Original Haycock Family

Pa and Lucia Lee

Pa and Mayma Haycock

The Fishermen

Friday marked the final day of long graduation ceremonies. The Convocation ceremony was in the Marriott Center again (and boy was it loooong). We cheered loud and hard for our boy as he walked across the stage. CONGRATULATIONS, JOSH! You did it!

McKell finding Pa with her handy binoculars

Despite the rain after the ceremony, we celebrated with a family barbecue at the cabin in Midway. The highlight of the dinner was Josh's cake. It was a happy, happy day!

From Provo to Midway and back

2010-04-25T15:48:00.000-07:00

We're lucky to be able to visit family in Midway as often as we do. The drive through Provo Canyon and into Heber Valley is spectacular.

Desire, Procrastination, Dedication, Frustration, Exhaustion

2010-04-19T00:02:00.000-07:00

Ever since Josh won a BYU Intramural Championship t-shirt, I wanted one. I wanted one bad. I had hopes with each team I joined: kickball, volleyball, even inner tube water polo. But no luck. Then I learned that you could earn a shirt by logging in 150 miles of running in a semester. (In the rules, running one mile could also be substituted with three miles of biking.) With my new goal of completing a half-marathon in June, I thought this would be very do-able.

While Josh went to his raquetball class every Monday and Wednesday mornings, I would run laps on the indoor track. Well, it started as prancing and eventually advanced to trotting and jogging. But my outer hips would hurt and my calves would be tight and it was hard to breathe. So Josh helped me pick out a good pair of running shoes and I had renewed motivation to work through the expected aches and pains. But then it got too cold or I didn't feel well or I was too busy/sleepy/grumpy/dopey...

And that's how I was left with 22 miles to finish in one day. Less than one day. By 4pm. Ideally 3pm.

Tuesday, March 13th, was a dreaded day. I went to bed the night before nervous and mad. I was mad that I had to run/bike 22 miles. I'd never even logged 10 miles before. And I was really nervous that I wouldn't make it. What if I gave up or died from exhaustion on the treadmill? What if I worked really hard but still missed the cut-off time, the time that the intramural office closed? And I was mad all over again because, well, I don't particularly like running. To me it's like eating bananas or beans--you do it because it's good for you.

I parked at the campus gym at 7:45am on Tuesday. My goal was to log in three to four miles every hour. It seemed like a plausible goal. My strategy was to run a mile on the treadmill and bike three miles on the stationary and switch back and forth. I felt like I would get decent rest by switching machines often and that the change in exercises would keep me fresh. But I didn't take into account that there would still be weight training classes and we'd get kicked out, that the other gym room's only stationary bike would be broken and frustrating to ride on, or that intermittently there would be a line waiting to get on a treadmill or a bike. So when the indoor track or the gym rooms weren't available, I would eat or take a nap. My motivation was waning. Josh stopped by the indoor track to cheer me on and bring me a peanut butter and honey sandwich. By then I was half-way through and grumpy. really grumpy. I knew I couldn't give up but I was also rather confident that I wouldn't finish in time. I certainly wasn't able to finish by 3pm so I could drive up to the Salt Lake Center with Josh and enjoy a nice, rejuvenating experience in Anthropologie. Eleven miles was still a long way to go. Josh left me to wallow in the consequences of my procrastination.

I went back to the gym, found an open treadmill, and started pounding away. I turned up the constant music in my i-pod and tried to drown out the sounds of my labored breathing. I ran and calculated the miles. I biked and calculated the miles. And after awhile the miles were shaving off. Eight. Then five. Then three miles. I knew I could do three miles. But that meant I would have already logged nineteen miles. Would my body still be able to keep up?

I biked four and a half miles and planned on running a mile and a half and finishing the remaining mileage on the bike. I thought about finishing it on the treadmill as a triumphant way to end the endurance but I was afraid of being tired. When I had reached 1.49 miles trotting on the treadmill, a guy sat down on the only bike in the gym room. I was devastated. I couldn't do another mile and a half. I hadn't mentally prepared myself to run the last three miles. I started getting emotional.

On my i-pod playlist is a large group of high-energy aerobic songs. One of them came on that I had never heard before. In an annoying sequence in any other situation the lyrics repeated, "Give it all you got! Give it all you got! Give it all you got!" I choked up a little. I sincerely felt that I was receiving help by someone greater than me. I couldn't understand why He would care about me killing myself for a t-shirt but I knew that He knew it was important to me. And of course, by then, it wasn't about the t-shirt. Okay. It was still like 75% about the shirt. It was really about accomplishing such a big goal...and the really big goal of 22 miles in one day, excuse me, less than one day.

After the song had ended I could imagine Dad rooting for me. He was standing beside the treadmill hollerin', "You go girl! Yeah! You've got it! You're lookin' good, girl...You're lookin' good!" It reminded me of the times that we would run on the tractor trails through the soybean fields in Alabama or when he'd cheer for me at my track meets or rub out my calves after hard practices or any other time where I'd put effort into something. And then tears were swelling up and it was getting even harder to breathe. I had a half-mile left.

A half-mile would have been five minutes at the pace I'd been going. And the clock said I had ten minutes before the intramural office closed. So I sped up from a 5.2 pace on the treadmill to a 7. I was tired. I was emotional from the strong desire to finish and the help I felt I was receiving. And I wanted it to be over. I wanted that t-shirt in my hands. With the last 30 seconds, the i-pod played "Jump Jump" by Kriss-Kross. It's mine and Josh's favorite song. Actually, it kind of marked the beginning of our relationship. I knew that I wanted to be with a boy who loved that song as much as I did. And right then I felt that it was Josh cheering me on at the very end. And then I started crying--an ugly mix of gasping and sobbing.
I finished the three miles, shuffled to the intramural office, told the girl I'd finished my miles (even though I hadn't officially calculated them), and after an unceremonious, "Oh good job. Way to finish it." she handed me the shirt. The shirt that was not as cool as Josh's shirt from last year. The shirt that looked more like a white "ThankYouThankYouThankYou" grocery bag. But the shirt that I had earned.
I plopped onto the bench and plugged in my miles on the calculator. 150.06666667 miles. I'd made it-- just barely but I'd completed it. And that day I had logged the equivalence of running a half marathon and biking a full marathon. What really scared me was that I felt like I could have done more if I'd had to. My legs could have kept going. I didn't have shin splits or cramps or snapped tendons/ligaments. My lungs were still working and my heart hadn't failed. I did it and could have done some more.

As I walked the mile from campus back to our apartment I called Josh and Dad and Mom and Darcy. I collapsed on my neighbor's floor, proudly showing Kate the shirt that I had earned. And she cheered for me.
That night I showered long and good. I scrubbed out the gray streaks of salt that caked throughout my hair. I think I washed off enough salt to sufficiently satisfy a tank of tropical fish. I melted onto the couch and struggled to stay awake watching rerun TV shows on Hulu. Josh came home from his last class and treated me like a queen. We picked up fast food and I devoured it like I've never eaten before. There was an element of ecstasy in that chicken gyro from Burger Supreme. Right before bed, Josh massaged my very tight muscles and I fell into a deep sleep.

The next day I had to practice a series of quick breathing techniques whenever I bent or folded my legs and other than sitting down or trying to stand up, I wasn't overwhelmingly sore. In fact, my muscles have only felt tight and strong since that workout. Three days later I went on a six mile jog with Jill up to the Provo temple and back.

It has been fabulous! I'm disappointed that I don't have a chiseled bod after all that work but I feel great! I'm happy! And go ahead and ask to see my BYU Intramural Championship t-shirt. I might even let you touch it.

In April...

2010-04-18T22:32:00.001-07:00

JOHN'S EAGLE COURT OF HONOR
We drove out to Heber to watch John receive his Eagle Scout award. Dana did a wonderful job of putting it all together. The ceremony was really neat. I liked watching all the younger boys pick up badge after badge that they'd earned. It made me a little excited to have my own boy scouts. I was especially proud to watch Josh sit in the Eagle's Nest with the other Eagle Scouts. Scouts are cool!

During part of John's ceremony, a man came in with a local bald eagle named Liberty. He told all about the habitat she came from, what she did for food, and why bald eagles were so majestic. It wasn't difficult to see why when you saw her so close...especially when she stared you in the eye. At the end, John had a chance to help hold her up in the air. His face is classic!

COOKING AND PHOTOGRAPHY
Spring Break brought a closing to the after-school classes I was teaching at a local elementary school. Despite my lack of experience with kids, the cooking and photography classes turned out great! Once rules were laid down and consequences were applied, I had a lot of fun helping the kids learn new things. In 1st-3rd and 4th-6th grade cooking classes we made things like cheese balls and flower pot cakes and ratatouille. They were messy but really fun.
In photography class, I worked with the 4th-6th graders on the macro setting, finding the alphabet in the architecture around the school, and building and using a light box. They did such a great job! At the end of the semester we held an art gallery where a few of my artistic friends came in to judge their photographs. The kids worked hard and were really excited. I was so proud of them! I've included a few of their photos below.
Last week I attended the school play that several of my students were in. The school put on a Willy Wonka musical. The kids were so awkward and nervous and fabulous! They made for adorable ompa loompas!

THE SOCIAL GATHERING OF THE LADIES OF LILA
This was our first get together with the female Abersold cousins. Rachel, Christina, and Liz came down from Salt Lake and Darcy walked the two blocks over to my house. The only one missing was Grandma Lila! We stacked plates high with delectables and caught up on what was going on in each others' lives. Short and sweet and really funny.

WARD TEMPLE TRIP
Last Wednesday we gathered with our ward for an endowment session in the Provo temple. We had at least three-fourths of our married-student ward members there (it helps that they all come in pairs). On our way up to the temple doors we ran into a group of missionaries. One of them was wearing my name tag. "Sister Whetten? Umm...I used to be a Sister Whetten. We must be cousins!" I didn't know her grandfather and didn't know there were Whettens in Lindon but it was exciting to meet family. Finding cousins and other family members is easy to do when your family tree explodes from the base of the trunk.

The temple session was wonderful. We met in a small room to listen to the temple president, President Bateman, give us counsel and direction. He reminded us that people on the other side of the veil were with us and hearing the words of the covenants for the first time and that we should represent them well. You never know but you always like to hope that the people of the names you're holding are accepting the work done for them. Josh and I were able to hand out over 20 of my mom's family names. There was one parent and at least nine of her children that were represented by our ward friends. It was neat--a good day at the temple!

END OF SCHOOL
Last Tuesday marked the last day of BYU's winter semester. We celebrated at J-Dawg's with money from selling back our books. Josh has worked really hard this semester to get straight A's in his classes. I haven't worked nearly as hard but I've really enjoyed my human biology class with Josh!

Eating Provo's best hot dogs on the lawn with Ashley on a gorgeous afternoon is a happy way of ending the school year.

Easter Weekend

2010-04-18T18:55:00.000-07:00

On Easter Eve Eve, I couldn't sleep. Jill and I had been planning a surprise Easter egg hunt for Josh and Grant on Saturday morning before we watched General Conference. Uncle Craig surprised us Friday night with a sleep-over party while he read our copy of the last Fablehaven book in the series. I had to make quick adjustments in order for the following morning to run smoothly, without questioning from the boys.

So on Saturday morning at 7am I snuck out the door and met Jill in the backyard. It was a rather chilly, windy morning for hiding candy-filled plastic eggs of delight and scattering glittery mounds of sweetness all over the yard. We had to do it quickly before Grant came home from playing raquetball and quietly while Josh and Craig slept. I had one close encounter with Josh when I came back inside but handled the situation professionally...the boy didn't pick up on a thing.

Around 9am, Grant and Jill came over to help us carry a French Toast breakfast back to their apartment. The boys were all confused about why we needed the extra hands but it was all part of our plan. And then they were extra confused when I tried to insist we go out the back door instead of the front door.
A.) It was more convenient to get to the Ensign's apartment and,
2.) It would have perfectly led into the Easter scene in the backyard.
Josh was getting a little frustrated with my persistence but as soon as they stepped outside Jill and I started squeaking, "Look! The Easter Bunny must have come! Oooh...Look at all the candy he left! Look, you each have Easter baskets! Ooh, hurry and get all the candy!!" And man was it worth the sleepless night and the lying just to watch those boys scramble around the yard, picking up candy in the grass and trying to find the hidden eggs.

The Saturday sessions of Conference were fabulous...I think--no, I'm pretty sure. The five of us were in sugar-induced comatose states after gorging through the Easter candy while listening to the speakers. But while I had painful physical feelings I had good, tender feelings in my soul while we listened to the church leaders teach us.

On Sunday, Josh and I drove up with Ashley to Midway where we watched the other two sessions of Conference at the cabin. It was a nice, relaxing Sunday. We made roast beef sandwiches with au jus sauce (or as Josh likes to call it, "Awwww Shoot! sauce") and then prepared mashed potatoes, turkey gravy, and a cream cheese jelly roll for the Easter dinner while we waited for family to come over. Uncle Tim, John, Spencer, and McKell came over from Heber with heaping plates of steaming turkey, aroma-packed casseroles, and mouth-watering salads. Once Anna and Uncle Todd got back from snowboarding in Park City we laid out the meal. It was delicious! We really missed Dana as the mother figure but the boys did a very good job of taking over the kitchen.
All in all it was a wonderful Easter weekend.

Festival of Colors

2010-04-18T17:32:00.000-07:00

27 March 2010

Josh, Darcy, Grace, and I drove down to Spanish Fork for the annual Holi Festival of Colors at the Hari Krishna temple. It was kind of amazing. We parked along the road about a mile and a half away from the temple and followed a crowd of clean white t-shirts to the fields around the temple. There were already hundreds of brownish/pinkish people at the site, eagerly throwing color on the rest of us with fresh shirts.

The first thing we did was walk through the gift shop/food court of the temple to the color tent where there were easily a hundred people in the center frantically buying bags of color. They had color baggies of pale blues and greens and also prepackaged fluorescent yellows, oranges, blues, pinks, purples, and greens. Grace marched her little way through and back out again with 15 bags of color. We excitedly divided them up between the four of us and then raced to be the first ones to peg each other with fists of chalk. It was a windy day and the chalk was floating everywhere. It went up our nose, in our ears, in our eyes, layered on our clothes, and caked our exposed skin (and some areas that were not exposed!).

In the center of the field was a stage where at least a thousand people were crowded in front to dance to the music or watch the performers on stage. We walked down to see two little girls in traditional costumes perform a short dance. They were terribly cute!

Then the band set up on stage while we all got ready for the color throwing countdown. We weren't thinking of the ill effects of standing downwind of the crowd. After a brief safety review by the man in charge of the temple, we started the countdown at 20. It took forever. But the band kept getting louder and people were letting out primal screams of eager anticipation and then "One!" and WE ALL THREW COLOR! It was incredible! All these shoots of brilliant color flew up in the air and then a dark brown cloud engulfed everything. We couldn't see the people standing next to us and we certainly couldn't breathe! You could feel it stuff your nostrils and crowd the back of your throat and stick down your throat and in between your throat and your nose. Darcy, Josh, and I came out all brown and Grace came out tan. But it was sincerely, most definitely, absolutely undeniably awe-some!

The Grantis Pantis Open

2010-04-04T18:48:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago we were watching TV at the Ensign's house. Well, I should say that Jill and I were watching TV (What Not to Wear) while the boys suffered through it. At one point, Josh and Grant snuck off the couches and started chatting, building, and giggling. Three commercials later they presented us with the Inaugural Grantis Pantis Open. The boys showcased their 9-hole golf course set up around the living room, spare bedroom, hallway, bathroom, and kitchen. The course was made up of books, PVC pipe, shoes, a rug, bar stools, plastic cups, and empty paper towel rolls.

It was fairly a close game the whole time. Everyone celebrated a hole-in-one...except for the founder, Grant. It really boiled down to the last shot; a rather difficult move from the corner of the kitchen. Josh shocked everyone by putting only a 2 on the 9th hole. It was a spectacular game. Josh came in first with 24 points, Grant with 26, Clarissa with 27, and Jill with 31.

Anne Dillon

2010-03-21T13:43:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday I found out that my dear friend Anne Dillon passed away from bone cancer. Anne was an incredible woman. This is how I met her:

I was serving my mission in Oregon and had just been transferred to downtown Portland with a new companion. We were taking over the area from the Elders so we didn't know anyone or anything about our area. Apparently, years ago the Elders had set up service opportunities once a week doing Meals-On-Wheels for a downtown apartment complex. Anne was in charge of making sure we did our job. Sister Johnson and I missed our first week and Anne filled in for us. We wrote her a thank you note and included a scripture from the Book of Mormon, citing the prophet King Benjamin for his words of truth about serving others. The next time we saw Anne she asked, "So, who is King Benjamin?"

We taught the gospel to her, helped her overcome her misconceptions, showed how the Atonement could help her be at peace with her past, and watched her joy and spiritual light increase as she internalized truth and hope and faith. There was more than one occasion when the impression came that Anne was very loved by and very, very special to Heavenly Father.

Sister Johnson and I were there for her beautiful baptism. Later, Josh and I were able to go to the temple with her. My mom had a chance to come up to Portland and meet her.

Anne has been loved as she served in the Relief Society presidency and participated in Family Home Afternoon with other branch sisters in her apartment building. Anne was also very good at loving others. She would tack pictures on the wall of her closest friends and missionaries. She had a love for Josh as soon as I married him. She treasured the scriptures given to her by my parents who she hadn't met yet. She loved her sons who had disowned her years ago. Anne loved giving. We enjoyed exchanging our favorite fruit teas with each other in letters.

Anne was an accomplished teacher and painter. She taught psychology at the University of Chicago. She sold one of her paintings to a card company. She had another picture published in a magazine.

I won't be able to forget Anne's deep and even-toned voice as she closed all of our phone calls, "I love you, Clarissa."

Last Thursday, through a heavenly tender mercy, I was able to register as a bone marrow donor. And I was able to do it in Anne's honor.

Anne will definitely be missed here but I know that there are others in the Spirit World who have eagerly anticipated her arrival.

Saint Patrick's Day

2010-03-21T12:51:00.000-07:00

For our holiday dinner we were joined by the Heiners (Pam and Quinn), the Bergmanns (Clif, Nicole, and Jace), and the Kmetzschs (Cameron, Kate, and Peter). We had soup with cabbage and ham and potatoes, a chicken salad, garlic bread, cream soda, and a carrot/yellow 4-leaf clover cake. I won't even be modest, the cake was my brilliant creation--except for the hole that Clif poked into it.

But the night was made complete with our own local leprechaun. I would wear green everyday if this red-headed cutie could live at my house.

Valentine's Day

2010-03-21T12:01:00.000-07:00

We had a blast with the Ensigns over Valentine's Day weekend. Saturday afternoon began with a lovely Italian dinner at our house. We had bruschetta, Caesar salad, and lasagna rolls with tofu. It was excellent! We listened to romantic French music on our record player. I was practically swooning over Josh all during our lunch. For dessert we went to Gloria's on Center Street and indulged in an amazing slice of cake. The experience was complete with a violinist serenading throughout the restaurant. Perfect! We laughed a lot, someone said something very embarrassing, and then we were able to laugh even more throughout the rest of the day. It was a great lunch.
After our dessert, the four of us went to the Provo temple for an endowment session. It was a great way to remember the promises we individually made to our Heavenly Father and to also reflect on the promises and blessings we were given when we were sealed together in the Atlanta temple.

We then went over to Grant and Jill's to paint portraits of our lovers. We watched the Olympics and secretly created our masterpieces. Josh went to the trouble of making a barrier with cereal boxes so I wouldn't see how the painting was turning out. I could tell it was going to be excellent because he made me do a lot of serious posing. (Check out the shading under my chin!) We successfully produced beautiful spouse portraits--and I must say I'm surprised they didn't have mad streaks across them from painting while we were watching intense speed skating races. It was such a fun way to spend the day of love with Grant and Jill!

Breakfast

2010-02-11T12:34:00.000-08:00

Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Weekend

2010-02-02T21:30:00.000-08:00

We brought Grant and Jill with us to the cabin in Midway. We all got in Saturday night, relaxed on Sunday, and went snowshoeing Monday morning.

Joining us in the cabin was Lucy "Scabbers" the Rat. We rat-sat her for our cousin Spencer (well, he didn't know because she was a surprise birthday gift for him). The boys were brave enough to pick her up so we could touch her. Even though we kind of did want to see her, it would still make Jill and I squeal whenever they brought her out. One night we built her a course to run in. Mostly she just knocked things down and tried to escape. You should've seen Jill react whenever Lucy came to her corner of the cake box barrier. So funny!

Monday morning was a perfect day to go snowshoeing. We went up to the state park and hiked wherever we could find open space. We barely managed to avoid losing the boys down a cliff they jumped off of, sprinting away from the snow plow, turning to road kill for food, mistaking running water for seeping gas, prying into a monster's shed and causing an avalanche. Other than those incidents, it was a very pleasant walk--complete with a delightful shower of snow the whole trip.

My Gracie Lou Freebush

2010-02-02T18:41:00.000-08:00

My best friend Grace got married on January 16th--just like I told her.

I met Grace my freshman year when we kind of liked the same guy. And then we realized that we didn't really like him--we liked being with each other better. So we roomed together the next year and had a BLAST! (Have you ever made throwing panties into the ceiling fan a hobby? Well, you should...) I went on my mission to Oregon and Grace went on her mission to Guatemala. And then I got married and then she went to France to nanny. When she finally decided to come home again, we had a long chat about her future plans with "the boy", whom she'd been dating for a couple of years. It was a long chat over a beautiful platter of Italian goodness and two hunks of chocolate sin plus several hours over the short couch in our house. Born of that conversation was the official date of when she needed to marry Kevin.

So on Saturday the 16th Josh and I drove to the Oquirrh Mountain temple and watched my beautiful friend be sealed to the love of her life. While Grace was caught up in her wedding gettin' busyness and festivities--Josh and I spent the rest of our time with my old roommates and friends from Rexburg. It. was. a. hilarious. night. Thank you Lindsey, Liz, Melissa, and Megan!

Aerial Competition

2010-02-02T17:28:00.000-08:00

In January, we went with Grant and Jill up to Deer Valley Resort in Park City to watch the pre-Olympic aerials competition. It was really cool! The resort was packed so Jill and I hopped out to find a spot while the boys parked the car. We had to duck-walk up the bunny hill because the snow was so slipperty (oops..that was an accident but I think I like it). Jill and I wormed our way into the crowd and watched the skiers shoot off the jumps. We couldn't see them at all beforehand and had to wait on the announcer to know when one was coming. They flipped and spun so fast that it was hard to grasp it all. I wish I could have seen some kind of slow motion replay.

We'd all gotten to the competition late so it was very short but very fun, especially the fireworks display at the end of the medal ceremony. It was probably the best fireworks show I'd ever seen--just ask Grant and Jill, they're firework connoisseurs.

From the bunny hill, looking down on Deer Valley Resort.

The bottom of the aerial course.

The mogul course right next to us.

A portion of the incredible fireworks display.

And here's a very sideways (can you be very sideways? I mean, either you're sideways or you're upside down, right?) video of our view of the aerials.

Christmas in Georgia

2010-02-01T20:48:00.000-08:00

This year we were able to go home to Georgia for Christmas. The holiday season was filled with secret shopping trips to the mall (nearly every day), several games of bowling, late night rounds Mexican Train, a Settlers game here and there, lots of good eatin', and plenty of relaxing.

Josh and I celebrated our proposal anniversary. Three years ago on the 23rd, he had recreated our first date and proposed in the back of his truck in the mall parking lot. I'm fully aware of the powerful, romantic magnetism of asphalt but it really was the sweetest.

Christmas Eve was spent at the Haycock home with Josh's grandparents and my family (minus Darcy...tear). We had a wonderful soup dinner and then went on the traditional Christmas Eve scavenger hunt for our white elephant gifts. Josh got a denture ice tray and I found a Disney Princess Sing-along CD. Afterward, Josh's dad and Ashley shared the Christmas story through a series of Bible and Book of Mormon scriptures.

We spent the night at my parent's house and woke up to find this boy outside the bedroom door.
It's my favorite way to find Matt on Christmas morning--huddled over his pillow (unfortunately not his Pikachu anymore), ready to be the first one to fly down the stairs as soon as Dad gives the go-ahead.

Mom and Dad and their matching....wait, what were those?

Where We've Been Together

2010-02-01T20:43:00.000-08:00

Gig Harbor Washington. Mount St. Helens. Astoria Oregon. Portland Oregon. Cannon Beach Oregon. Albany Oregon. Salem Oregon. Lincoln City Oregon. Crater Lake National Park. Roseburg Oregon. Newport Beach. Medford Oregon. Boise Idaho. West Yellowstone. Rexburg Idaho. Idaho Falls Idaho. Logan Utah. Salt Lake City Utah. Provo Utah. Heber City Utah. Midway Utah. Arches National Park. Moab Utah. Zion National Park. St. George Utah. Las Vegas Nevada. Henderson Nevada. Kearney Nebraska. Winter Quarters. Keokuk Illinois. Nauvoo. Chicago Illinois. The Gateway Arch. Birmingham Alabama. Great Smokey Mountains National Park. Augusta Georgia. Atlanta Georgia. Suwanee Georgia. Buford Georgia. Chattahoochee National Forest. New York City New York.

The Bread Maker

2010-02-01T17:18:00.000-08:00

Not only does Josh bring in the dough but he also bakes the bread in the family. I really like having a Bread Maker. When I first got the machine I was excited to be domestic and bake my own bread. It's far from being mixed and kneaded by hand but I do consider it homemade!

But my futile attempts to bake bread in the past were disastrous. It would come out compact and hard as a rock or just hard as a rock or it simply wouldn't even mix. I'm not one to usually follow recipes but I really tried to follow the directions correctly and they still wouldn't rise into a mouth-watering hunk of carbolicious goodness!

One day I asked Josh to bake the bread. Or did he decide to give it a try after he chipped his tooth on his sandwich? I don't remember... However it happend, the boy made a perfect loaf of bread...again and again and again.

So while I may not be a Little Red Hen, I'm very pleased to have a sweet loaf of bread and a sweet boy to make it!

The Christmas Cousin Reunion

2010-01-21T09:22:00.000-08:00

Our 2nd Annual Christmas Cousin Reunion: Gift Exchange took place in December. And it was rockin'. Whitney and Stetson hosted the par-tay in their actual home with a real fireplace and a real record player (almost half the size of their entry way). Whitney decorated the house beautifully, certainly setting the mood for a nice, quiet and enjoyable evening. It was nice. And it was enjoyable. But it wasn't quiet.

Most of us sat down to a lovely Lasagna dinner while Jarom, Darcy, and Ashley were stuck trying to get a broken-down car towed home. After several hours, they were finally able to make it and partake of the large amounts of lasagna still left over (a miscommunication blessed us with three lasagnas).

After dinner Whitney graciously shared a "Puppy Love" video that she had. (To Josh's dismay, this had nothing to do with Donny Osmond.) The "movie" was created for the purpose of having background entertainment while showing homes to customers. It certainly left us entertained for a few hours. ridiculous. The show, with the option of adding "natural noises" or music, was nothing but eight or nine puppies and small dogs playing in a glass pen. Trust me, it really was enthralling.
Once we had watched "Puppy Love" for as long as we could stand it, we had our gift exchange. I won't attempt to remember what Craig and Jaclyn, Whitney and Stetson, Lindsey, Jarom, Darcy, Ashley, or Josh (a BYU hoodie) and Clarissa (a giant bag of change) received but here are the pictures:

Post-gift exchange we played a rousing game of Pit. It was rather loud, by nature, until we realized (an hour later) that the Robinsons' renters weren't home downstairs--then it got out of control. The highlight of the game was Craig's unexpected "door dance" after he won a round. Classic.

The Lights on Temple Square

2010-01-21T09:16:00.000-08:00

We visited Temple Square a couple of times in December--once with Ashton and Brad Kelley for the Christmas Devotional and another time with Grant and Jill for a fun date night. The Square was always packed but that helped everyone stay a little warmer. The temple and the lights, as usual, were beautiful.

Most coveted shirt on campus: The Intramural Champion Shirt

2010-01-20T09:40:00.001-08:00

This year has been one to remember on the intramural front. After I was released from the Bishopric in June I was called to be the Ward Sports Coordinator--in my opinion the best calling in the Church. So I have been involved in many different intramural teams this year. I have played softball, flag football, coed volleyball, but the most memorable was the men's soccer team that I played on (it wasn’t a ward team, though). As we started the single elimination play-offs we defeated our opponents soundly in the first several rounds. When we got to the final four, the tournament changed into double elimination.

As we played in the last game of the winner’s bracket we were down 2-0 with about 6 minutes left in the game. With our backs against the wall we scored 3 goals in the remaining 6 minutes to win the game. The team we beat then had to go and play in the loser’s bracket to get into the championship game and play us again, which they did.

In the Championship game we scored first and it was 1-0 until the final minutes of the game when they scored to tie it up. Regulation expired with a 1-1 tie. Five minutes of golden goal (first to score wins) overtime followed where neither team scored. So we went to a shoot out where we made all of our first four shots and our opponents missed two of theirs so we won without having to take the fifth shot. It was a very exciting game and after years of coveting that Intramural Champion T-shirt I finally got one.

Rise and Shout...

2010-01-19T21:05:00.000-08:00

The Hoo-Hahs are out! (Note. "Hoo-hah" is what "Cougar" sounds like shouted from the crowd when heard on the field of Lavell Edwards Stadium while holding a musical instrument and arrayed in fine marching band apparel. Thanks for the story, Monique.)

The Cougars may have already skinned the Oregon State Beavers in their post-season Las Vegas bowl game but we'd still like to share our memories of a very great BYU football season.

1. Opening the season with an extraordinary win against No. 3 Oklahoma. Big thanks goes to Colby Clawson for tackling Sam Bradford in such a sound manner.

2. Attending the traditional Homecoming Pancake Breakfast and Parade, accompanied by Grant and Jill Ensign and Tim, Aubrey, and Maya Chaves.
The traditional waiting line for blue pancakes.

Traditional blue pancakes made complete by traditional blue milk (like in Star Wars).

Jill and Grant eating traditional pancakes with us.

The traditional marching band.

Josh and Grant celebrating the parade in an untraditional-like manner.

3. Having high hopes when playing outstanding teams like Florida State and Texas Christian at home. (I won't mention that we devastatingly lost to both teams...)

4. Having Craig (and sometimes Jaclyn) join us at all the home games. Those long walks up 300 East to campus and from campus to the stadium were always memorable.

5. The BYU vs. Utah game. After they beat us and Alabama in the Sugar Bowl last year, we were ready for a big win. And to have the Cougars storm out in the original Cougar blue (in fashion after the 1984 National Champions, 25 years ago) helped the crowd go NUTS!

The BYU crowd storming the field after our overtime win against Utah.

Cider Festival

2010-01-19T18:55:00.000-08:00

17 October 2009
Last October I FINALLY made it to the Holmstead's Cider Festival. In the Fall my Aunt Lorena, Uncle Bruce, and cousins Josh, Joseph, Jesse, Mary, Peter, and Libby host a giant party in their yard where guests indulge in chili, homemade doughnuts, and gallons upon gallons of freshly squeezed apple cider.

This year, Cider Festival began with a morning drive to the apple orchard in The Middle of Nowhere, Idaho. (Except it is right by Chicken Dinner Road--I do know that.) There were a lot of family members there: most of the Holmsteads, the Farnes, Darcy and her boyfriend, Lindsey and her three boyfriends, and Craig and Jaclyn. So, of the Whetten family, that made for 3 of the 10 siblings and 11 of the 27 grandchildren.

We went up and down the rows of apple trees, picking the good ones off the ground, shaking the fat ones out of the tree tops, and searching for the "treasures" hiding in the leaves. I can't even remember how many bushels of apples we gathered but it was A TON.

Back at the Holmstead farm we made lunch with Grandma and Grandpa Whetten, tidied up the house, organized an assembly line for the cider press, said "Hi" to the cows, gave leftovers to the chickens and gathered eggs, played soccer in the backyard, lamented the llamas that had been removed, petted the horse's nose, assembled a troupe to make the doughnuts, and put out a few stalks of corn for decoration.

People came by the van-loads all evening long. We had kids going on tractor rides, fiddlers playin' a tune (okay, maybe violinists), and conversations all over the place. It was a perfect Cider Fest!

Chicken Dinner Road

Legs hidden among tree trunks.

Aunt Lorena, the Hostess with the Mostest

Lindsey holding a "Twillight" apple

A Craig! Looks like he found "The Num Nums"!

Johnny Appleseed and I share the same birthday.

The Holmstead farm

What little brother Matt wants to be when he grows up.
(The answer is: a baby cow)

Birthdays

2009-12-21T14:00:00.000-08:00

Josh and I celebrated fabulous birthdays this year. They were rather monumental birthdays--he turned 25 and I turned a year older than 25. That was kind of a big deal for me. I'm old. I'm older than 25. not okay.

For my birthday in September, Josh created a wonderful candlelight dinner for me. He made grilled salmon, vegetables, and mashed potatoes. It was delicious! But I was anticipating the birthday cake. I kind of really love cake. So when Josh came out from the kitchen holding a candle-adorned pumpkin pie as wide as his shoulders, I was in shock.

Pie?
Not cake?
And pumpkin?
Who makes pumpkin pie before Thanksgiving?
Before Halloween?!

I just laughed and laughed. Josh explained that he had seen a key lime pie (second to cake, in my opinion) at Costco the week before but when he'd come to pick it up the next week it was gone. All they had was pumpkin pie. So that's what he got.

I'm not sure how he missed the 2-foot chocolate cakes that always line the goodies tables but somehow he did.

It was a fabulous birthday dinner.

That weekend we went out for sushi with Uncle Craig and Jaclyn. It was a hilarious night! We came home and found a cake in our house. Darcy had baked it in our oven, frosted it with her friends, and then left.

Seeing it look so pretty on my table made me want to do this:

Josh had a themed birthday this year. Two years ago we had a Donny Osmond theme. This year we did Pirates. I'll let Josh tell about it:

I had class in the morning until noon. When I came home from class I found a ransom note tied to my engagement sword (it is a pirate sword). The note was really cool; it was written in awesome calligraphy and burned around the edges. The note gave me an encoded clue to meet Clarissa at Pirate Island (a new, fun pizza place in Orem) for lunch before I had to go to work. A year or so Clarissa tried to do a similar thing (leaving me an encoded message) and I went to the wrong place. So when I showed up to Pirate Island and didn’t see Clarissa’s car I was worried. But Clarissa drove up just then, saw me in the truck, and ran into the restaurant.

It was a fun time. Clarissa had made me an amazing book of all of our memories. She had gathered all of the notes and letters we had written each other, our tickets to different football games and stuff that we have done together. She put it all in a sketchbook with pictures. It was really nice. After a fun time eating our pizza and yummy brownies and ice cream (and the "wenches" singing Happy Birthday) I had to go to work.

After work I had to go take my exam. When I finished my exam Clarissa rode up to campus and we rode our bikes home together. When we got home I saw the screen door open and someone going inside. Clarissa said that Darcy was coming over . Then when we went inside the back door none of the lights in the house were on. So I asked Clarissa if Darcy was in the house and Clarissa explained that the lights were off because Darcy had a headache. Then as we walked into the dark kitchen, several things happened at once. I went to rest my elbow on the table and felt something gooey (a cupcake) at the same time I noticed Ashley and Clarissa’s cousin Lindsey both standing in our tiny dark bathroom. As all of these confusing thoughts entered my mind everyone jumped out and yelled "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!" But because my mind was struggling to figure out why my table was covered in something gooey and why my sister and cousin were crammed into our dark bathroom my brain didn’t have anymore space for extra stimulus and I wasn’t startled or surprised at all. Then I realized that our house was full of friends and family that were dressed like pirates.

Those who came were Grant and Jill Ensign, Rebekah and James Handley, Brendan and Dahlia and Claytin Bone, Tanner and Michelle and Owen Ensign, Shari and Bishop Engelhardt, Mitch and Jade and Torrence Jones, Brad and Rachel Miller, Lindsey and Jared Conover, Nichole Huntington, Ashley Haycock, Tim Shaw, Jarom Jordan, Whitney and Stetson Robinson, Lindsey Jordan, Darcy Whetten, Nicole and Cliff Bergmann, and Kate and Cameron and Peter Kmetzsch.

It was a great party and Clarissa had managed to keep it a secret this time (unlike last year) primarily due to secret coded emails. Clarissa’s decorations were amazing; she made a pirate flag, people brought tons of goodies (hence the gooey table top), and there were IBC sodas in a giant tin basin filled with ice. I loved it! I haven’t had a surprise birthday party since I was in First grade.

Hot Date Night

2009-11-24T03:45:00.000-08:00

It's 4:45 am. Josh and I have been working in his biology lab all night. He's been here since 9:15pm and I joined him around 10:30pm. The boy is finishing up a term paper that will be published in a scientific journal next year. It's titled Ontogenetic Shifts in Age in Utah Brown Trout (Salmo trutta) in Fall Months. He's a genius.

I've been working on some math homework and a peer review for a term paper and then a Christmas wish list....And I can't believe we're still here. The lab is three floors down from the main floor in the Widtsoe building so we have no idea what the early hours look like outside. It's probably still dark, which means it would still feel like 5pm or something. And we've loaded up on chocolate and Coca-Cola (and Lunchables and Hot Pockets) so we're probably still good to go for another hour.

Best date night ever.

Catching Up

2009-11-15T14:17:00.000-08:00

We did a bunch of fun things this summer. Here are some of the favorites:
Payson Scottish Festival--twice. Once with Tim, Aubrey, and Maya Chavez where we wandered around and ate "authentic" fish 'n' chips. And once with Jill and Grant Ensign where we watched the competitions. Grant was playing with the Salt Lake Scots. Josh was just really happy to be able to wear his own kilt. He's so manly.

Sheepdog Competition at Soldier Hollow We were able to see the splash dog competition, duck herding, and the main sheep herding competition. And then Grant Ensign's Salt Lake Scots group came trooping down the hillside at the end of the day.

Ammon, Idaho
We went up with Whitney and Stetson Robinson for a family, um, "get together" at the Grandparent's house. All of my aunts and uncles were there and a handful of younger cousins as we gathered around Grandpa, expecting him to kick the bucket. But he didn't. We're happy he's still around to make us laugh.
This hamburger joint was a pleasant surprise on our drive back home. It was the most enjoyable Idaho road trip ever.

Alisa Izu Lujan
Izu was my trainer on the mission and my most, most favorite companion out of all thirteen. She was in Provo for a family reunion and made time for a visit with us. She brought along her sweet babies, Peyton and Cephas. We walked around a park trail and tried to catch up as quickly as we could. It was one of the happiest 36 minutes of my life! Love her!

Intramural Softball Josh had several softball games this summer. It was fun to sit in the grass and watch his little booty...I mean, his athleticism.

Mountain Biking in Midway
The summer was gorgeous in Midway. We love visiting that valley.

Rexburg, Idaho
My friend Jessie Nielsen and I made a spontaneous trip up to our campus to work out academic questions with our counselors. It was so wonderful to be up there and to soak in the Spirit of Ricks and drive around all of our favorite places. We didn't recognize much with all the massive amounts of construction they were doing on campus but we were still very happy to be there. And very thankful that Craigo's was still there. Oh glorious monster cookie...

The Great Road Trip: Destination Provo

2009-11-08T19:48:00.000-08:00

After another brief stop at the luxurious Hotel Simpson where we cat-napped and brushed our teeth, we took a straight shot to Provo. It had been an exhausting road trip. Even with a two hour driving shift (except for Tim who didn't get much of a shift change) and plenty of time to nap or read, we were all spent.

But it was beautiful scenery all the way home.

Oh yeah, we were filling up on gas when the pump didn't shut off and spilled all around Tim's car. It was bad...but cool! I didn't know that gas would come gushing out like it did!

The Great Road Trip: Winter Quarters

2009-11-08T19:14:00.000-08:00

30 July 2009
On our trek back West we stopped at Winter Quarters. This was our first time visiting there and I think we were both surprised by its overwhelming peacefulness. We wandered around the Visitors Center and tried our hand at pushing our own handcart around. Then we went across the street to the cemetery. It was really special to see the people who had been buried there. It helped us both to recognize the sacrifice they had made to help us have what we have today: Restored truths that are being spread around the world. Their courage and faith to follow the Prophet's direction, as commanded by the Lord, is humbling.

Complimenting the reverence of the cemetery was the Winter Quarters temple just on the other side of the gate. I think it's special to have the House of the Lord next to such a reverent plot of land. It's a miracle to have a holy temple built where so many people ended up sacrificing their lives. This was a very neat place to visit.

The Great Road Trip: Chicago

2009-11-08T18:16:00.000-08:00

29 July 2009--The first thing we saw coming out of the parking garage: the Willis Tower, formally the Sears Tower.
At the Cubs game. This is where we paid $30 to stand for 3 hours. "Thank you, Illinois! The Land of Lincoln!"

Josh dropped his watch and it took three crew members to give us permission to go beyond the gate (Josh got far, didn't he) and get the watch back. With his ingenuity, he was able to retrieve his watch.
The boys that played outside the stadium the entire game.
It was a successful day at the ball park. I had my first hot dog at a baseball game, the Cubs kicked some Astros, and we learned the Cubs' post-game anthem "Go Cubs Go!"

Looking back at Navy Pier from the Riverfront walk.

A nice little garden we found on our way to dinner.
True Chicago pizza.
Don't be fooled. These are actually starving faces.

The Great Road Trip: The Cookie Monster Shirts

2009-10-25T13:56:00.000-07:00

Our next stop on The Great Road Trip was to visit Conal and Monique Whetten up in Chicago. The Chicago-ian Whettens have five children that are always dressed in matching outfits. We thought it would be funny if we arrived at their house in matching shirts, as well. So the night before we left we made a midnight run to Wal-Mart to find shirts. Much to my absolute chagrin, the majority vote was for these hideously bright blue Cookie Monster shirts. Personally, my vote was on striped polos. Everyone (but me) thought the shirts were hilarious. So all seven of us (plus Dad) bought a shirt.

We definitely got funny looks as we stopped at gas stations along the way. I think most people assumed we were a Baptist youth group since the seven of us seemed like a storming mass because the shirts were so flagrant.

This is how ridiculous we looked:
Oh well. In the end it really was funny.

The Great Road Trip: Stone Mountain

2009-10-25T13:18:00.000-07:00

On Monday night (July 27th) we went to Stone Mountain. A few of us hiked up the side of the mountain for a hazy pink view of downtown Atlanta. The weather was pretty stormy and after a few licks of lightning we were asked to hike back down.

Stone Mountain is another family tradition. During the summer the park puts on a laser show. It's displayed on the side of the mountain with the carving of three Confederate leaders on their horses: Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Jefferson Davis. The show always has the traditional, favorite songs: the bubbly soda song, "God Bless America", "Georgia On My Mind", "The Devil Went Down to Georgia", and "Sweet Home Alabama". And they display all the local professional and college teams and everyone hollers for their favorite. And it gets a little crazy. And some people still have a lot of Southern Pride. But no matter where you're from and no matter how much you resist, when they've got fireworks shooting off and Robert E. Lee's image is shown breaking his sword and the music is swelling, you get a little emotional. It's tradition.

The Great Road Trip: The Barn

2009-10-25T12:25:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, July 25th we drove home from the Nantahala Village in North Carolina back to good ole' Suwanee. After unpacking and cleaning ourselves up we piled back into the cars again to drive over to downtown Suwanee for some Barn music.
I discovered the Barn in high school when Josh and the high school gang would go hang out there after the Stake dances. I thought the boys were ridiculous because they thought it was so cool to sit on old church pews in a barn converted into a stage/hall and listen to old people sing about the Civil War. But the more I went I realized that it wasn't always the Everett Brothers singing old songs but it was newer, younger groups playing some mighty fine blue-pickin'-grass. You could listen to more professional groups play in the Barn or you could walk across the driveway to the Everett home and listen to a different pick-up group play in each room of the house.
So now it's tradition to take any and all visitors on down to the Barn for some foot-stoppin' good music. And Saturday's performance was just as good as I remember.

The Great Road Trip: Whitewater Rafting on the Nantahala River

2009-10-11T21:45:00.001-07:00

Crew in Boat #1: Dad, Mom, Darcy, Tim

Crew in Boat #2: Cristin, Matt, Josh, Clarissa

The trip in a few words:

Wet,
Terrifying,
Cold,
Really Funny,
Scary,
Wet.

Ha! Boat 1 getting stuck on a rock (for a rather long time, I might add)!

The Great Road Trip: The Appalachian Trail

2009-10-11T20:45:00.000-07:00

On Friday the 24th (Pioneer Day) the whole family went hiking. We split into the "Rough 'n' Tough" group and the "Easy Breezy" group. The tough group hiked a portion of the Appalachian Trail in North Carolina. We piled the van with Cristin, Dad, Matt, Alec Goldi, Scott Goldie, and me and Josh.

The trail head---okay, we didn't really hike that far.

a mushroom

Josh found a fuzzy catepillar

Heading to Charlie's Bunnion

Lilies along the way

At one of the shelters

Josh being stupid, I mean, adventurous.

Matt and I below the bunnion.

Hiking = Happy

The other group

walked a nice paved trail to this spot

for this beautiful view.

The Great Road Trip: Deep Creek

2009-09-20T15:05:00.000-07:00

We went tubing again, this time down Deep Creek. There were thirteen of us (Susan, Alec, Scott, Craig, Jaclyn, Jarom, Whitney, Stetson, Lindsey, Cristin, FaFa, Josh, and I). We rented the inner tubes and drove a couple of miles down the road only to walk a 1/4 of a mile to hop into the river. Some of us tried to tie down our tubes on the roof of the car; others just held onto them tightly as they hung outside the Suburban's windows. As we trooped up the trail to a good spot in the river we sang the numerous verses of "The Ants Go Marching" which was complete with choreographed synchronized tube formations. We made quite the scene but it was hilarious!

The Great Road Trip: Nantahala Village

2009-09-20T13:03:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, July 23rd, we all drove up to Bryson City, North Carolina to spend our reunion at the Nantahala Village. The entire group that got together consisted of:

Jeana Whetten
Curtis, Michelle, and Matt Whetten
Clarissa and Josh Haycock
Darcy Whetten and Tim Shaw
Cristin Whetten
Jarom Jordan
Whitney and Stetson Robinson
Lindsey Jordan
Conal and Monique Whetten + kiddies
Chris and Elena Whetten + kiddies
Craig and Jaclyn Whetten
and
Susan, Alec, and Scott Goldie

The drive up there looked something like this:

And the view from our collection of cabins looked like this:

The reunion consisted mostly of dancing, jokes, movie quoting, parlor games, eating, random videos made up by the Jordan cousins, Settlers, Crazy Eights, one big RISK tournament, a talent show, and unlimited outdoor fun.

The Great Road Trip: Atlanta

2009-09-07T21:23:00.000-07:00

After we went tubing in Helen, we drove down to Atlanta to watch the Braves play the San Francisco Giants.

The Great Road Trip: Helen, Georgia

2009-09-06T17:46:00.000-07:00

After arriving in Suwanee way past midnight, hugging and laughing and being silly, we crashed on every bed, couch, and air mattress available.

Our first adventure back home in Georgia was driving up to Helen and going tubing. Helen is a town that the locals have tried to make into a Swiss tourist attraction--a redneck version of Midway, Utah. Just skirting the edge of town is a small portion of the Chattahoochee River where they have tubing rides set up.

We piled Curtis/FaFa/Dad, Uncle Cedric, Uncle Craig, Aunt Jaclyn, Cousin Jarom, Cousin Cristen, and the two Haycocks into "Big Mama" and drove an hour Northeast to Helen. The complete trip is commonly referred to as "To Hel-en back".

The day was rather cool and overcast and the water was pretty cold. But keeping warm wasn't a problem since at least one of the eight family members was trying to chase after your tube and toss a large rock in or throw an even larger rock in your vicinity to splash cold river water on you or simply tip you out. I was the victim of a secret combination collaberated by Josh and FaFa. They ambushed me and threw me out of my tube, disrupting my peaceful float down "the Hooch". Soaking wet and freezing--I was mad. FaFa said that I got what I deserved but I don't seem to remember why....

After we all met up again, we joined Josh on his traditional visit to Granny's Famous Funnel Cakes. They're often the best part about visiting Helen.

You could say "Cool and the Gang."

Josh's cute face.

Getting ready to head down the river.

Dad posing with "the Granny."

Can't go wrong with a paper plate overshadowed by a large funnel cake of greasy goodness piled with syrupy strawberries and half a quart of whipped cream mountained on top.

The Great Road Trip: St. Louis

2009-08-23T20:25:00.000-07:00

From Kearney, Nebraska at 2am to Suwanee, Georgia at 12am, Saint Louis was our mid-way stop.

The Great Road Trip

2009-08-23T10:05:00.000-07:00

On Monday, July 20th, we embarked on the beginning leg of our Great Summer Road Trip--Provo to Salt Lake City. Cousin Jarom, Uncle Craig, Husband Josh, Sister Darcy, and Sister's Boyfriend Tim caravaned to Salt Lake to help Craig and Jaclyn unload into their new apartment. Once each room of their apartment was sufficiently stuffed with boxes and furniture we headed over to the local grocery store, grabbed food for lunch and snacks, and left port of call--beginning our 2,000 mile road trip across the country.

"The first transport is away. Hooray!" (Star Wars quote, used 7,921 times during the trip.)

We spent all of Monday driving I-80 through Wyoming to Kearney, Nebraska. Our drive was interrupted every 2-3 hours with a driver rotation at gas stations. And at each gas station a handful of us would hop out of the Suburban ("Big Mama") and the Geo ("Tiny Tim") and throw the football back and forth across the lot.

We stopped in the middle of the night at Kearney, Nebraska to see Roger Simpson. Roger graciously met us at the nearest gas station and led us to their new apartment where we brushed our teeth, napped on the couch, and chatted with the ever charming host. An hour later we moved on to the next official stop: Saint Louis.

Funniest part of the leg: All day Craig had been quoting the scary bad dwarf in Chronicles of Narnia--the part where the dwarf is talking to Edmund: "Do you want some num-nums?!" Craig was very good at using the same creepy voice. As we were turning into the gas station in Kearney the Suburban made this crazy grinding noise. The four of us awake listened intently, trying to figure out what was wrong with the car. "What was that noise?..." Craig woke up from the back of the car and creepily said, "It was the sound of my desire for the num-nums!" We all laughed and laughed and laughed.....wish I had the audio.

Change

2009-08-19T20:33:00.000-07:00

I like change. Not the type that makes life-altering adjustments. I like the kind you find on the ground. The kind that transforms a black asphalt parking lot of ugliness to an enchanted treasure cove of delight and riches.

I began picking up change after Josh and I got married and the obsession grew quickly.
In an interview with BYU sports broadcaster Jarom Jordan, I explained that I began my career as a "changemonger" because it symbolized appreciating the little things. I appreciated money. Not in a selfish way--in a way that expressed that we all need to treasure, value, and save. My hope was that I'd be able to find enough change to pay off our future debts. With all the people who disregard change because they don't feel it has value, I wanted to stand up and care.

Each penny I find is a wonderful, unexpected shiny gem of excitement. It makes me really happy--like finding wrapped gifts lying all over the parking lot.

Finding change really, truly helps me enjoy each day I live. They're tangible pearls of good fortune.

On our road trip to Georgia this July I found a lot of change. Almost enough to do a load of wash at the laundromat. Here are a few places I found change:

numerous gas stations: $o.18

St. Louis arch: $0.01

Wrigley Field: $0.08

the subway in Chicago: $0.12

the parking lot of the Winter Quarters Visitor's Center: $0.01

a pile of swept trash at Wal-Mart: $0.25

Here fishy fishy fishy.....

2009-08-12T21:05:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday Josh and I finally went fishing. I say finally because I've had a fly fishing pole in my closet since the Christmas we got engaged--3 years ago. I've used it to occasionally to practice in the backyard, the driveway, and the local park. But no matter how many times I was taught where to position the pole, where to keep my hands and fingers, and how to cast the line--it didn't mean much at all until we got in the water.

Joshua's grandpa very generously paid for a hilarious guide and, by chance, a beautiful day along the Provo River in the canyon. With my neck-high waders, oversized boots, and very hot pink shirt I was ready to try my hand at fly fishing.

Joe, our guide, picked out the flies he thought the fish would be eating. Once we caught a fish, he pumped its stomach with this turkey baster-thing. Because the fish don't always swallow the bugs right away we were able to see exactly which bugs they were eating. Joe would change out our flies accordingly. Please don't ask what we fished with. Josh just told me what they were called and I didn't understand a word he said.

Joe had us fishing about 30 feet from each other. The poor guy would sprint wade to Josh when he caught a fish and then sprint wade back to me when I caught my flies on a rock. This was a repeated pattern for a good portion of the day.

I caught the first fish, well, minnow. I was actually rather proud of myself.

Taking the traditional picture.

Joe would set us up in the "perfect" spot (Joe really does know each perfect spot along the entire river) and point out the exact "lane" we needed to fish in. "You see that still area of water, they're waitin' for you right there..." I would always thank Joe for his help and then look back at the rushing water in front of me, wondering where on earth he had found still water in the middle of the river. With each cast I was just happy to have gotten it in the water and not in my hair or a tree.

Joe took us up and down and across the river. We found brown trout, rainbow trout, little snakes, minks, a horse, and a very dead sheep ("Shh...She's sleeping!"--Joe)

Joshua and I had a rather successful day. Together we caught about 20 fish. Here are a few pictures from the trip.

A Broken Vow

2009-08-04T10:19:00.001-07:00

On the day that Josh and I were married, I silently snuck my own vow into the ceremony: Never Share The Same Toothbrush.

Okay, no more suspense about this post. Here's what happened....

When we left for our two week vacation we took our "manual" toothbrushes and decided to leave the electric toothbrush (with its separate heads) at home. Once we got back on Friday, I couldn't remember which head was mine. We had recently bought new heads and I couldn't remember if mine was my favorite color green on the right side (which has habitually been "my" side) or if it was my other favorite color blue on the left side. I decided that Josh had accidently mixed up the toothbrushes and used the blue head from the wrong side.

Josh left the house early the next morning before I'd woken up. As I went to brush my teeth for the day I found that he had not brushed his. The toothbrush head had not been changed. Strange...for a man who wants to be a dentist. But I concluded that he was probably too tired to switch the heads and just used his Crayola crayon toothbrush that Santa had included in his Christmas stocking.

As we got ready for bed that night I asked him why he hadn't used the electric toothbrush that morning. "No, I did", he said. "Oh, then you switched the heads for me afterwards?" "No", he said again. "But...Isn't that blue head mine?!" "Nope", he grinned.

"OH SICK!!!!!!"

the end.

Harry Potter at 12:09am

2009-07-15T16:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we joined Ashley for the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It was the first time I'd been to see Harry Potter at midnight and, more importantly or as a result of, it was the first time I'd been in "the club." I'm a convert to "the club". People of "the club" have read all the books, know exactly what's going to happen (and sometimes complain when it doesn't), and simply go to watch because they love Harry. or Ron. or Hermione. maybe even Dudley.

Josh took me to see the first Harry Potter when we were in high school. We thought it was a very good kids movie. But then he read the books and converted instantly. I wasn't converted until I married Josh. A month after we got married the seventh and final Harry Potter book came out. We went to the midnight release at the BYU bookstore. We waited in line for hours, got sorted by the sorting hat (Josh into Grifindoor, of course, and I into Slytherin--the hat was running low on magic, I think), and bolted with everyone else to grab the book and plop down on the nearest piece of anything to indulge ourselves for the next 24 hours. Actually, I'd say that a good 30 hours of the next two days were spent reading the seventh book out loud. Reading the book to Josh was my way of showing that I loved him and accepted his fanaticism. But I had no qualms about reading the end of the book and teasing him with bits of information. It was maddening to him but very enjoyable for me.

All that to say, this was an important stepping stone in our relationship together with Harry Potter. We joined the snaking line outside of the Riverwoods movie theater, enjoying our doughnuts and playing fun games. Ashley--Josh's sister and convert catalyst, Josh, and I played UNO but with a Haycock sibling twist. Whenever someone called out UNO on someone else, they had to have a wizard duel by casting spells at each other. I got smoked. Once, Josh and Ashley threw spells at each other for a good five minutes. I only knew three spells. I think there were some made up spells, though, like "Bladdercus Explodicus" and Josh's infamous "Abada Cadabra".
Once 11:30pm hit everyone started standing up, getting anxious to rush the theater for the best seat. The three of us continued to kill time by challenging each other in the bubblewrap popping game and bowling on Josh's iTouch.
We were able to find great seats in our small theater. And our group of Harry Potter fans were wonderful. The movie was fabulous and beautiful and funny and (shh..) sad. But we had a great time sharing it within our Haycock club!

Josh talks in his sleep quite often...

2009-07-14T08:21:00.000-07:00

Last night I was having a hard time falling asleep. I was quite awake when Josh rolled over, pointed his finger down and said, "See, I do have my feet under the covers." I was stumped because it had never really been a question before. "Did I ask you if your feet were under the covers?" He said yes. So, I figured, while we're at it, let's see what else we can get out of sleepy Josh.
"Josh, did you know that I'm pregnant?" (This is not true.)

"Yes."

Ha!

"Well, what do you want to name the baby?"

"Awesome."

Only if they turn out to be as cool as you, Josh.

Our Fourth of July

2009-07-07T15:08:00.000-07:00

In my opinion, this has been the best 4th of July EVER! I think it was as American as you can get.

The night before, the Cousins had a s'mores roast in Whitney and Stetson's new backyard of their very own new house. We had the proud homeowners, me and Josh, Darcy and Tim, and Tim's sister Stephanie. It was a really fun night.

Saturday morning Josh and I went over to the fields behind Provo High School to watch the hot air balloons. We were too late to see them take off and too early to watch them land but it was neat to see them float all over the city. Later we met Whitney on University Avenue and 3rd North for the grand Provo Freedom Days Parade. We swung by the fabulous Provo Bakery and picked up the best glazed doughnuts I've ever had. Between the three of us (no one else would get out of bed for the parade) we indulged in quite a bit of sugar--which made up for the fact that no one would throw candy at us. The parade was as spectacular as ever--marching bands, pipe bands, good lookin' floats, college rivalry, and giant floating characters.

After the parade we met up with all the sleepyheads at the Robinson's place for a barbecue. We were lucky to have Tim there with his outstanding grill to fix up some fancy hamburgers, hotdogs, and Jamaican jerk chicken wings. This time we had a full count with Darcy and Tim, Jarom and Ashley, Whitney and Stetson, and the entertaining Lindsey Jordan. We all laughed, danced, listened to music, and told stories in the waning strip of shade in the backyard. Someone had the great idea of going to the pool at Lindsey's apartment complex so we cleaned up and took off.

Darcy and Tim couldn't join us at the Raintree complex but we had a blast. The seven of us had pool jumping contests . I, personally, thought that the High School Musical jump that Ashley and I did was the best. But Josh's bellyflop comes in a close second.
Once our toes were wrinkly, our faces were freckly, and our shoulders were sunburned we joined Darcy at Jarom's house to watch the greatest summer movie of all time: THE SANDLOT. It was especially fun to watch since it was filmed in Utah. I think it's the second most quoted movie in the Cousin crew, just behind That Thing You Do.

After the movie we split. Some people went to fight for a space outside the BYU stadium where SheDaisy and the Jonas Brothers were putting on a concert. Darcy, Josh, and I climbed up on the roof of the neighboring Apollo apartment complex to play games and watch the fireworks. We joined our friends from the ward, Cliff and Nicole Bergmann and Jill and Grant Ensign. The fireworks were only a couple of miles away and, from our view, they were right at eye level. It was beautiful! It would have been beautiful and relaxing had there not been rather luminous clouds and lightning rolling towards us. But it was a very colorful and exciting show.

And that was how we ended our perfect Fourth of July.

I Love This Boy

2009-06-30T09:02:00.000-07:00

This was how Josh released his pent up energy as I was frantically trying to get ready for the Bijou Market fair. How cute is this boy?

Fair

2009-06-25T19:57:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Josh and I went to Strawberry Days up in Pleasant Grove. It's a big festival of rodeos, crafts, carnival rides...and strawberries. We leisurely wandered around the craft fair and the carnival rides. Nothing really caught our attention but it was a fun place to take pictures. Once we were out of "meander"-thal mode we went to the Purple Turtle to grab a bite to eat. I've been dying to go to the Purple Turtle since we moved out here two years ago. When I was six years old, growing up in Orem, I thought it was the coolest place to eat. I guess it still is since it was packed when we got there. We thoroughly enjoyed our shakes and tater tots.

It was a happy date.

Stop and Think

2009-06-10T21:16:00.000-07:00

Today I've been thinking alot about this art piece I saw on the internet once. It makes me think. I'm not quite sure what it makes me think because I can't seem to articulate it. But I like it. I hope it makes you think.

Point five past light speed…

2009-06-07T20:47:00.001-07:00

Now that the DAT is over I can catch everyone up on some of the awesome things I have needed to blog about. So our good friends the Simpsons moved back to Nebraska. Before they left, however, we were able to have a few last whooraahs! I have already blogged about our adventure to Las Vegas and, if you will remember (if you haven’t read the Las Vegas post this is your spoiler warning), I mentioned in that post that Roger and I made a pretty good pilot/copilot team, one that rivaled Han Solo and Chewbacca. Well, that dream came true. Roger has a pilot’s license and he took me up flying! So we were actually flying through the galaxy (aka Spanish Fork air space) and flying through the beggars canyon (aka Spanish Fork Canyon….don’t worry mom we weren’t low). It was so much fun. As you can see, aviators are a must while piloting or copiloting.

Roger bullseyeing womp rats.

Our Millennium Falcon

Womp Rats aren't much bigger than 2 meters.

I am glad "DAT" is over!

2009-06-07T20:28:00.000-07:00

June 6^th 2009 I took the most important test of my life thus far. Now, I know that once I get into dental school and have to take boards and all that jazz that the DAT is probably going to seem like weak sauce but for right now it is the biggest and most important test I have ever taken. In my preparation for the DAT I often reflected on the other standardized tests I have been forced to take. My mind found the memories of the SAT and ACT exams that I took to get into college. I thought that if standardized tests were food, the DAT would be a nice multiple course meal and the SAT a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. This thought terrified me because I had to take the SAT three times just to get a decent score. I have never prided myself on my test taking abilities. I also had one other fear: I was afraid that for some reason I really wasn’t supposed to become a dentist and that God had some other plan for me and bombing the DAT was going to be the sign that I needed to rethink my life choices. So in order to counter these feelings I studied like a mad man. For the last month I have been in the library doing nothing but studying for the DAT. I picked out the back corner of the computer lab so I would have to turn all the way around to be distracted by other people in the lab. However, I did take notice of the other guy frequently in the lab who was also studying for the DAT and I would keep an eye on him, making sure I didn’t go home before he did. I know that is a little over the top but a little competition never hurts to keep me motivated. One time I was feeling a little sleepy, and we all know studying with droopy eye lids is never beneficial, so I decided to lay my head down and take a quick power nap then refocus. But as I laid my head down on my hands I looked back under my arm and saw “my competition” studying away behind me. When I saw him my mind snapped awake out of shear competitiveness and I was able to continue studying. Then a few minutes later I looked back and he wasn’t there. So I don’t know if he left or I was more asleep then I realized and imagined him there to subconsciously wake myself up.

Enough about me. I would like to introduce everyone to the DAT.

The DAT consists of 4 sections all of which are taken on a computer. The first section is the survey of natural sciences. You are given 90 minutes to complete 100 questions: 40 biology, 30 general/inorganic chemistry, and 30 organic chemistry. Then, as soon as your time runs out or you finish all of the questions the test moves straight into the Perceptual Ability section. This section is lovingly referred to as the PAT (now that I write it out I am not sure why the “T” is necessary). In this section there are 90 questions in 60 minutes. This section of the test is broken down into different sections as well. There are 6 different types of questions, all of which test how you can visualize 3D images that are given in 2 dimensions. For example, one of the sections shows you a folded paper with holes punched in it that you have to tell where all the holes are going to be in the unfolded paper. After the PAT section you are given an optional 15 minute break. When the 15 minutes are up, the reading comprehension section starts. This section consists of 50 questions over 3 scientific or other technical articles and you are given 60 minutes (my articles were on secondary cascade processes specifically cAMP and G proteins, Pianos, and aspirin and its effects on the body). The last section is the quantitative reasoning section where you have 45 minutes to complete 40 algebra, geometry and other word problems without a calculator (needless to say, I had to relearn how to do long division). The DAT is scored out of 30. All of the questions on any DAT are drawn from question banks. After each test is compiled the test makers go through the test and rank it as easy, medium, or hard. To get a 30 on the DAT one would have to get a perfect score on a hard exam. Dental schools look at the total academic average scores and the PAT score. For the Medical College of Georgia, the dental school I really want to go to, the average of the accepted students is 19 for both academic average and PAT. On Saturday I earned an academic average of 19 and a PAT score of 21. So that puts me at average and above average of the accepted students.

I am very happy with these scores and feel very blessed. I know that I had divine help, I felt the many prayers that all of my friends and family offered for me. Thank you everyone for your prayers and support.

It's "DAT" time of year...

2009-06-06T08:54:00.000-07:00

The countdown is over. Josh is now taking his dental school exam. We've been anticipating this day for months now.

To help him get ready for the test, I posed my own test questions for him. Here are a few examples:

C: True or False? Some enzymes and a catalyst thing and a little photosynthesis....True or False?

J: Uhhh...True?

C: Correct! You're brilliant!

C: Question. What happens with some mitochondria and proteins and quantitative reasoning?
A- plankton
B- X=4
C- Josh is the most handsome boy in the world?

J: Ummm...I think C.

C: You're a genius!!!!

"If I die, you can have all my stuff."

2009-05-18T08:55:00.000-07:00

If you have any respect for me as a confident, healthy and in-shape fitness instructor--please do not read this blog entry.

Mr. Haycock took me on my first mountain biking ride. (We were in Midway for the weekend where we watched Dana's kids as she incredibly accomplished a triathalon.) As we drove to the trail head along the bumpy dirt road I verbally willed everything I owned to Josh. I didn't want to but I felt it was important to make sure that I wrapped up any loose ends by securing all my belongings to someone if I were to die on the trails.

Josh mapped out an easy path for us along the Sage Trail. I'm sure that it was actually an easy trail but I had my bike gears as low as they could go before we'd even gotten all the way out of the parking lot. The trail was not what I'd expected. It was kind of sandy, rocky, narrow, and bushy, prickly, and stabby on either side. I was so scared that I was going to either hit a rock and flip over my bike or that I was going to tip over because of exhaustion and be acupunctured to death.

Josh, very fittingly, was wearing my "Fitness Instructor" shirt. I was feeling huge and fat that day--like 300 pounds fat. (Guess we shouldn't have had pigs in a blanket and cheesecake before we left.) I was trying so hard to use Pilates breathing mentality: the more oxygen you take in, the less your muscles will hurt. It worked for a good pedal or two. But still, I was taking 3 minute breathing breaks for every 2 minutes I rode the trail.

This whole physical experience was comparable to a hippopatamus with one lung riding a bicycle on a rocky balance beam with porcupines on either side. That's how I felt.

I finally met up with my patient husband at the top. It was such a relief! All downhill from there! But wait. Now I had to go fast down the rocky trails with angry porcupine bushes waiting on either side? mercy... Josh, with all of his bouncing energy, took off down the trail. I could hear skids and "Woo-hoo!"s fade as he raced down the path. As I white-knuckled the brakes I learned something about myself. I'm very cautious. But can you blame me? The trail was very steep and S-curved all the way down (and remember those pin-cushions along the trail--with the needles poking UP?!). I am proud to say that I never fell off. Ever. But I sure did stumble alot. And nearly got mowed over by another zealous rider behind me.

This is me coming down the end of the main trail. Sure, it doesn't look that bad but trust me, it was! At this point Josh and I split up so he could go on a "real" ride by himself. He guided me to the Aqueduct trail which followed the creek down to the trail head. The Aqueduct trail was a dirt rode with deep tire tracks. This trail was even rockier! It was still downhill but not nearly as steep and it was void of any S-curves. I kept at my cautious, brake-gripping pace until I rode through a spot over the creek. Glancing down at the mud splatters all over my bike and clothes, a renewed sense of excitement and adventure overcame me. I loosened my grip on the brakes and rode faster through the next creek crossing, making an even bigger splash. Pretty soon I was jumping over big rocks and keeping a slack jaw and very juvenille-y letting out a loud "aya-aya-yayayayaya" as I took the very bumpy trail down. This trail was awesome! I crossed the creek five or six times and steered all over the trail. That last leg of the ride down was a blast! Made the whole trip worth it.

And I didn't have to give Josh my stuff.

The Ugliest Thing I've Ever Made

2009-05-12T21:18:00.000-07:00

So, I didn't think it was possible to do this after all the creative juices that have been flowin' but....I did it. I made something really ugly. Not that it's so un-normal for me to have made something that doesn't look that good but...this is ugly.

Last week I took a couple of classes at Joann's to learn how to use my sewing machine. It scares me. It scares me like driving down I-75 in Atlanta when I was 16. White-knuckled the whole time. I think I need to talk about this. I'm scared of sewing my finger. My anxiety always kicks up a notch or four when I'm around needles (ask my mother-in-law). I'm scared because I don't understand which way the fabric is supposed to flow right. I'm scared that I won't be able to fix the machine if something goes wrong---like I run out of thread on my bobbin (can I have a word point for that term?).

The teacher and the class were great. I felt more comfortable with the machine--really stupid but more comfortable after the week was over. The teacher was very patient with me. I think she saw me as her "special" student. But I ate up the extra attention, slow talking, and patient explanations.

I learned how to make a button hole, hem jeans, make a cuff for a men's pant leg out of wool material (mens, obviously. not womens). I sewed on "delicate" fabric--don't ask what it was called. I made a shirt collar but didn't know what it was until the teacher turned it over and traced it with her finger. And all of that was on the first day.

The second class was all about sewing appliques. I sat in my chair, leaned back, cleared my throat, and winked. "Excuse me ladies, but I hand sew my own designs on shirts. I think I'll know a little bit about how to get this done on a machine." Aren't machines supposed to make things easier? Okay, so maybe I just said all of that in my imagination. In actuality, I probably just stroked my machine so it would think we were friends.

First, we tried a certain stitch (the satin stitch?!) on a heart on a pink piece of fabric. (This isn't even the ugly one.) I placed my not-cut-out-so-pretty heart on my fabric straight. And it turned out like this:

a crooked pocket.

So then the teacher has us cut out another heart, iron it onto special paper, flip it inside out, sew it onto fabric with batting behind it, and then sew a decorative stitch around the whole heart. This is it. The ugliest thing I've ever made.

Now, let me explain. 1) I was using two different thread colors. 2) I managed to sew the iron-on paper to the wrong side of the fabric--hence why the fabric is backwards. 3) I couldn't coordinate the direction I wanted to go and the direction the machine wanted to go. And 4) Okay, I was cocky and it was a lot harder than it looked.

Talented, huh.

Other than this disaster, the rest of the class went well. I sewed a piece of lace onto linen cloth and cut away the linen strip so it looked like the lace was created with the linen. That looked really good. I'd post a picture of it but this entry is dedicated to the ugly things I made in class--and that I adore. Thanks, Ugly Stuff, for making me laugh!

Selling at a Craft Show: CHECK

2009-05-11T20:58:00.000-07:00

Okay, so selling at a craft show has never actually been on my list of Things To Do Before I Die but I'd say putting yourself out there with handmade product is a solid accomplishment. Alright, I'll say it: I'M REALLY STINKIN' PROUD OF MYSELF!! I AM SO COOL! I AM DROP DEAD GORGEOUS! I AM....

Fine, I'll stop.

Setting up the show was exciting. We got there early but ended up getting a less-than-ideal area. Well, okay, I just didn't like the lighting in the room. But Thursday night was so packed that I was glad I wasn't in the center room.

Josh was a life saver. He picked up the trees and dropped them off at the show. Then went back home to pick up the bar table and chair and dropped them off at the show. Then picked up the perfect dinner and dropped it off for me at the show. (PS--The dinner was Lunchables and a heaping load of yogurt from Yoasis....It was delicious!)

My beautiful friend Willow helped me come up with the idea to hang my baby shirts from trees. I was able to rent a couple of bare trees (natural branches with white lights which were potted in cement) for a steal and hung the shirts with clothes pins.

Having admired the other displays, I was glad to have my goodies hanging up and catching attention.

The show was really exciting! Thursday night they had food and hired a DJ who actually played great music. The atmosphere was fun but the whole place was a frenzy. Most of the people who came that night were college-age folks who snatched and grabbed a little bit of everything. Most of everyone's stock was sold that night. It was great!

I had fabulous friends from the ward and family members who stopped by. They were so encouraging and really supportive of me. It meant a lot. Some of them slipped me sweet little notes on my display table.

The show continued until Saturday night. I never saw a bigger crowd than on Thursday night but I met some nice customers and vendors. I even caught a glimpse of the fabulous "Nie Nie" who has a famous blog here out of Utah.

All in all, it was an exciting but exhausting show.

Viva Las Vegas!

2009-05-03T19:00:00.000-07:00

Clarissa has had an exhausting weekend with the Beehive Bizarre. So she is passed out beside me on the other couch. I know that she is a much better writer than I am but I will try to hold to her high standard of clever writing. This week has been one to remember. Clarissa and I went on one last whorahh with our good friends the Simpsons who are moving to Nebraska soon. We traveled to Las Vegas to visit Josh and Willow, our mutual friends.

On the way up Clarissa and Lisa (which proved rather frustrating at times because I have taken to calling Clarissa nothing but Issa which sounds very much like Lisa) anyway. Clarissa and Lisa worked on Clarissa’s onesies for the Beehive Bizarre. While Clarissa sewed the patterns on the front, Lisa helped by sewing the labels on the back. They worked furiously on both the ride down to Vegas and the ride home. A word of caution to any of you who are riding in the back seat of the Simpson’s car: There was more then one needle lost back there, so tread and sit lightly.

While the girls sewed their little hearts out in the back seat, Roger acted as the rugged pilot Han Solo while I was the hairy co-pilot Chewbacca. We found that with our powers combined we could rival tom tom, the GPS system.

When we arrived in Las Vegas we planned on going through the temple but it wasn’t until we pulled into the empty parking lot that we remembered that all temples are closed on Mondays. However not all was lost--we were able to get out and stretch our legs and warm our faces in the beautiful 80 degree weather. We walked around the grounds and enjoyed the beautiful flowers and view that the Las Vegas temple has. Clarissa followed in her father’s foot steps by taking some very cool close up pictures of the flowers that surrounded the temple.

That evening we went to Josh and Willow’s beautiful home. The girls went and took a hip hop exercise class, Josh sang at a cadaver ceremony for his medical school, and Roger and I watched an NBA play-off game. After everyone reunited at Josh and Willow’s we went out for ice cream at a casino near their house. After ice cream we went and watched the Bellagio fountains which was really cool. Tuesday morning Josh had to go to school and Willow had to work. So the rest of us braved the greater Las Vegas area and found the outlet mall so the girls could do some shopping while us guys just walked around. At 3:00 we were able to check into our hotel… the MGM Grande… it was awesome! We were able to get a great deal on a really nice room. After we checked in we went down to the pool complex. There were something like 4 different pools, a lazy river, and a water fall. It was amazing. So we enjoyed to sun for a while (my upper lip was the only part of me to get sun burned…jerk), then we went to the amazing Studio B buffet at the M resort. There was bamboo salmon, sushi, steak, shrimp, fruit, and all kinds of really nice food. Then they had a succulent dessert bar that was to die for, with little pastries and crepes and gelato. My shoe especially liked the cream from the little éclairs. The reason the buffet is named Studio B is because there was a little cooking studio where they have cooking shows. Martha Stewart had been there recently and done a cooking special. So of course we had to get some pictures in there pretending to do a cooking show of our own.

Then, unfortunately, we had to leave Wednesday after a farewell lunch in the MGM Grande food court. We loved being with the Batts and enjoyed the brief 6 hour drives with the Simpsons. Thanks for making it so much fun, guys!

Easter

2009-04-14T11:23:00.000-07:00

Easter was beautiful. We had lovely church services with excellent lessons and testimonies on the Savior and the events of the Atonement. As focused in General Conference, I appreciated those who talked about how hope and the Atonement go hand in hand. I know I forget to rely on my Savior and center my thoughts with an eternal perspective. Had Christ not lived a perfect life and taken upon my sins, I wouldn't be able to have the assurance that I could live with Him again in complete joy with my sweet hubby and wonderful family. If that's not cause to give you hope in trials, then you need to read the Book of Mormon.

(PS--These are my "blueberry" flowers. When I was growing up in Orem I would pick off each of the bells and mix them in the sand sifter that had mud for a Blueberry Mud Pie.)

Easter dinner was spent with the Whetten cousins (of whom Darcy is the only actual Whetten now). Darce invited us all to her place for the feast. Those in attendance were: Lindsay Jordan, Jarom Jordan and Ashley Haycock, Darcy Whetten, and Mr. & Mrs. Joshua Haycock. We had a potluck spread. Our tastebuds were delighted by "special meat" (what other families besides the Haycocks refer to as "roast") with potatoes and carrots, baked potatoes (alright, so we didn't coordinate that well), corn dogs (the biggest hit), fabulous Sangria and juice, and carrot cake. The joke of the night was that Lindsay was keeping the dessert she brought as a secret. Josh said, "She probably only has carrots under that foil". Ha-ha!
My Mr. Haycock surprised me with a giant Easter basket the day before. He lovingly rode his bike up to Riverwoods with me where I had my yoga class Saturday morning. I thought he would really enjoy riding his bike around the canyon trails while I was in class. But, apparently, he didn't ride the trails. Josh was there to meet me after class, an hour later, and we quickly pedaled home, trying to avoid the rain. It was unavoidable. I opened the door to find a trail of plastic eggs leading into the kitchen. There, oh wonder of wonders, was a huge (well, it was big but rather HUGE compared to Mom's old tiny vintage Easter baskets we grew up with--sorry, Mom, they are vintage) Easter basket complete with grass, plastic eggs containing Lindor dark chocolate balls, a bag of mint Ghiradelli chocolates, Reese's peanut butter eggs, and a large chocolate bunny. Is your mouth watering yet? He had biked all the way home (at my pace it takes 30 minutes) to set up the basket and then raced back to meet me in time.

Josh is incredibly good to me. All I did for him was hide plastic eggs filled with malt-eggs around the house while he was taking a nap. He still hasn't found all of them. He better get on it because I'm starting to forget where they are... Oh, and I introduced him to egg sandwiches--his new favorite.

Earlier last week we dyed eggs with our neighbors. This is how they turned out. Josh's globe egg is my favorite.

Green Wedding Shoes

2009-04-14T10:45:00.000-07:00

I may or may not have spent all morning looking at this website. I found the link on Katie Bradley's blog and immediately got hooked. How can you not love these terribly romantic pictures?! Josh, can we please throw another wedding reception?!

Ward Talent Show

2009-03-31T15:55:00.000-07:00

Recently our ward had a talent show. I think this was the first good talent show I've been to. A list of the talents we were delighted by:
-a bagpiper
-an industrial design student portfolio
-"Under the Sea" played harmoniously by two recorders each in a nostril of the performer
-Mario Brothers theme played by concert pianists
-hula hooping (oh, if you had any idea...)
-golf club balancing
-hand stand demonstrating
-and incredible songs on the guitar and on the drums with outstanding vocals

I decided to combine two talents: yoga and playing the trombone. So I think I butchered the names of the yoga poses and I'm quite rusty after a 7 year absence from my beloved trombone. But Mom, I finally practiced!

The Beehive Bazaar

2009-03-31T15:18:00.000-07:00

I had Elise Capener take pictures of the shirts I made when I first decided to open Coco Sailore on Etsy. I knew she would make my clothes look good. And she did! (Check out her fabulous work here.) As we were working together she told me about a local craft fair here in Provo and suggested that I try and get in. Ha! I thought she was just being really nice. These shirts? I was flattered but had to recognize reality--I was just now building a relationship with the needle and thread again. We had decided 15 years ago that it would never really work out between us. (I'm happy to say that our fights are fewer and much more mild. Respect, respect, respect...)

So one day I got up the guts to just throw myself out there. I felt nauseous through the application process. Yeah, there was an application process because they only accepted 50 vendors. In my mind it was a joke. There are many, many talented artists here with years of experience. Like I said earlier, my sewing accessories and I were trying to put a rocky relationship behind us. So I sent in a silly picture of myself, fumbled through a description of my work, and sent in a few pictures of my work.

And waited and waited and waited. I based my expectations on how things were going with Coco Sailore. My garden of success on Etsy needed more watering, weeding, and care than I had anticipated. Needless to say, the money tree seed I had planted was not even poking out of the soil.

Then one day I received an unfamiliar email. And Beehive Bazaar told me that I had gotten in. And that they had posted my information on their website. And that I should come prepared with plenty of stock to the fair.

Have you seen the other stuff that will be available at the fair?! I feel like I can't even compare. What have I done?! I'm thrilled and flattered and terrified and...need to make a run for the bathroom.....

But we learn through our mistakes, right? I just wish they didn't have to be so public. I'm excited to start this new adventure. I'm excited to meet and be inspired by the other artists. I'm excited to have my own business cards! I'm excit..scared...scared...scared....

Sunday Thoughts

2009-03-29T19:36:00.000-07:00

My thoughts: Today during testimony meeting, someone related how God must feel watching us to how he felt as a parent, watching his daughter make mistakes. He spoke about how frustrated and confused he would get as his one year old daughter would crawl right off of the bed or the couch. "Why couldn't she understand that she would get hurt when she did that?" He related it to how God might feel when we don't read our scriptures or pray. He said, "Wouldn't God say the same thing, 'Why don't they read the scriptures?! Don't they understand that it hurts them when they don't?' " hmmm....

Josh gave a portion of the lesson in our combined Priesthood and Relief Society meeting. He talked about the purpose behind indexing. Our Stake has set a high goal to index 1 million names. By indexing these names, we're taking them from their paper form and making them digitally available for everyone. There are a lot of censuses to cover all over the world. So Josh talked about being able to do missionary work and temple work when you help index these millions of names. I've been indexing lately, as I've talked about, and haven't had any life changing experiences, but I've really enjoyed "getting to know" the people in the past. I have more respect for the mothers who took several children across the ocean to settle in America (Rhode Island, specifically!). I wonder about the women who have children later in their years. Were they like me and just didn't start having kids until they were older or were there children earlier on who just didn't make it? I wish each of the names came with their own stories. Indexing a batch of 50 names would take hours....

Josh's thoughts:
I am not much of a thinker but I would like to say are a few words. And they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!

St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-28T18:57:00.000-07:00

I'm working a little bit backwards here but I just had to write about our successful St. Patrick's Day dinner. We coordinated with our fabulous neighbors, the Kmetzschs and the Heiners, and planned a magically delicious dinner this year. Kate and Cameron made a corn beef casserole that they dyed green, Pam and Quinn brought over potato salad (apparently there was not a cabbage to be found at the grocery store) and oatmeal muffins dyed green, and we brought key lime bars (that had green dye in them), lime Jello jigglers, and a green pitcher of limemaid to drink. It was fabulous! We pulled chairs outside and sat in a big circle, giving kudos to all of the contributions. We were able to enjoy the warm-ish weather outside during dinner and had a great time.

Tastebud reactions

Quinn modeling for the camera

I love our neighbors. Like a lot. Josh and I wouldn't have nearly as much fun in our triplex if it weren't for our good friends. We love playing games together and watching movies (I'm sure I'll blog about our summer movies in the backyard). They're just the best.

PS--Two days after the dinner Josh and I still had green poop! I'm sorry. I'm sorry....I just think it's so funny!!

A Fun Day for Us

2009-03-26T12:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning Josh and I drove up to Salt Lake in order for Josh to take his physics test. I still wasn't feeling so hot (exhausted after teaching yoga that morning) but I packed up the basics--my laptop and Coco Sailore work--and went up with him. We sat in the beautiful and quiet library. The windows opened up to a view of Gateway mall and the fantastic station architecture. Josh studied his little heart out while I interrupted him with gmail chats. He's so cute when he giggles!

We took a lunch break in the lounge where he made me cute little sandwiches. #1 being a peanut butter and honey sandwich and #2 a turkey and cheese sandwich. I love it when he writes my name on the baggies!

After we ate our delicious lunch of sandwiches, apples and oranges, and peppermints (Don't be fooled, it was the only source of sugar left in the house save from bringing a box of Honeycombs. If we had a 9-layer chocolate cake, we would have eaten that instead--as in instead of a heathly lunch entirely.) we played a game of foosball. Josh whomped me. He always does.

Josh took his physics test and aced it! He's been making such good grades in this class. I'm really proud of all his hard work. While he took his test I took a nap and meandered over to the mall where, surprises of surprises, there happened to be an Anthropologie store. I've given up setting my heart on their clothes but I can't get enough of their home decor and their merchandise displays. La creme de la creme, wouldn't you agree?

Later that night Josh and Jarom had an intramural flag football game. Now, these handsome boys are athletic but tonight they TORE UP THE TURF! Between them both they had 5 interceptions and 3 touchdowns + an extra point to help give The Mosletinators a 39-6 win. Ashley and I could hardly have a flowing conversation for all the hollars and Xena calls we threw out. Thanks, boys, for making it an exciting night!

After the game the boys surprised us with dinner at Red Robin. We had a good time quoting THAT THING YOU DO, talking about summer plans, discussing our dreams, picking at each other's food, contemplating fry sauce, and enjoying the bottomless fries. To thank them, we rented AUSTRALIA. (hehe!)

Thanks, Josh, for a fun day!

"Never Have I Ever" within the last 9 hours

2009-03-24T03:58:00.000-07:00

So, this is a little twist on the game. Within the last nine hours I've experienced some things that I've never experienced before--and don't particularly hope to experience again. Rather than explaining in detail, I'm just making a list.

Never have I ever (until recently):

1. Gotten the flu after eating sushi. Okay, more than likely that's not really what happened. But 10 minutes after I finished indulging in my wonderful 18-piece roll I started getting chills, aches, my body temperature turned up a notch (which is dangerous considering how hott I am already), and I started getting all buzzy in the head. weird.

2. Had difficulty sleeping because of two thoughts: "How can I best display my work at the craft fair next month?" and "What is the name of the shade of purple used by most Christian religions to describe Jesus' robes?" Doesn't it have a name besides just "purple"? It's been driving me crazy and the answer is not on wikipedia.

3. Woken up at 12:30am (an hour after having gone to bed) thinking, and hoping, it was time to get up already.

4. Started my day at 3am. I sometimes have trouble sleeping but I think that stems from my new worry that I'll sleep through the 6:30am yoga class I'm supposed to teach three days a week.

5. Been so intent to reach my indexing goal. So starting at 4am to catch up on my goal is sort of new for me. If after this head start I don't take a huge chunk out of the number of names I have left--then I give up. Our Stake gave the challenge last June to index (extract) 1 million names within a year. We have 3 months left and have heard numerous talks about indexing. Sister Dicou gave a talk at Stake Conference that particularly moved me and so I took on the challenge to finish a bunch of names by the end of March. Like, a bunch. The Stake President said his mother does 10,000 names a month. So I'm doing 10,100. Cheeky, I know. But I'm gaining more and more respect for his mother as I'm now having to index 700+ names a day. That's about 4 1/2 hours if I'm not distracted--ha!

Fingers crossed I'll get some real rest today.

The Tourney Begins...

2009-03-19T12:08:00.000-07:00

Here we go. The beginning of two great experiences: a new blog and the NCAA Tournament. Can life get better than blogging while watching four basketball games at the same time? Josh and I are hanging out at Jarom's apartment. We watched BYU lose (as I predicted). Cousin Jarom asked me several times to be reverent as I threw jabs about BYU's phenomenal playing. And now we have our fingers crossed for Purdue, Maryland, UNC and UCONN.

Josh caught that I failed to mention that LSU won--against my bracket hopes and dreams.

We've enjoyed watching the games with Jarom, who has more trash talk for the play-by-play announcers than he does for the teams. He often calls the games before the announcers do.

So if you'll pardon the exit, we've gotta cheer on these boys with our heart, might, mind and strength.