"If You're Not in New York, You're Camping Out" -Thomas E. Dewey

Back to the Big Apple! Wasn't I just here? Yes, but I love it! The last several times I have gone it was in Autumn and Winter, so it was kind of nice to be there in the summertime. Also, I typically plan my trips around a specific Broadway show that I am dying to see, and this time the trip was for more personal reasons. Not that we didn't fit a couple of shows in, (please, this is me we're talking about) but the reason for the trip was to attend the reception of my friends Brian & Isa. They actually got married back in the end of December, but had a belated reception. It was in Central Park and was super casual and it was so good to see them so happy!

My friend Adam and I (who are both friends with Brian from our BYU years) took a Thursday night red-eye flight and arrived in NY bright and early (and humidified) on very little sleep, but that hardly mattered. We stayed with our lovely friend Alli (another mutual friend from BYU- she is a nurse and her husband is at Med school at Cornell) and they graciously let us make a wreck of their living room all weekend.

Adam had been to NY before as well, but he had a little bucket list of things he wanted to do and we did a pretty dang good job of covering it considering we only had three days and Brian's reception was the main point of our trip and travel time getting all over takes up a lot. Things on the list we covered were:

1- The Metropolitan Museum (I go every time I'm in NY, but I love it)
2- The Guggenheim Museum (I had never been!)
3- The NY Public Library (I had also never gone here- really glad we did)
4- St. Patrick's Cathedral
5- Cruising out to the Statue of Liberty (Instead of taking the two hour ferry we took a speed boat- I would highly recommend it ;)
6- Top of the Rock (I had never done this either- its a look out at the top of Rockefeller Center. If you have never been to NY then you have to go up the Empire State Building, because, well, its the Empire State Building, but now that the Towers are gone, it doesn't have the best view anymore. Top of the Rock has a great view of the ESB and also of Central Park)
7- Serendipity! I can't go to NY and not go there either, apparently. I'm okay with it
8- Times Square and Broadway shows! We went to two shows, Memphis and Fela! They were both really great, and both won awards at the Tony's this past week. Memphis won the coveted Best Musical
9- Strolling/eating in Greenwich Village
10- Baseball game- the Yankees were sadly out of town, but we went to a Mets game at the new Citi Field
11- Most importantly, got to spend time with Brian and Isa and Alli and got to finally meet Alli's husband Dustin, who is great- it is so awfully thoughtful of my friends to keep marrying people that I like  ;)

Not too shabby for three quick days! Here are some pics!

Little Brother is All Growed Up and Graduated!

So this is a couple of weeks belated, because I was lazy about getting the pictures uploaded, but two weekends ago I went to Bozeman, Montana for the college graduation of my (second of four) little brother Parker (fondly nicknamed 'Bug'). My folks are still out of the country, so I was the family representative. He was a film student and it was really a lot of fun having him show me campus and show me his art classrooms and videos they have worked on and what not. It made me sentimental for school and made me think that Film would have been a pretty awesome major since, if this blog is any proof, I kinda like media stuff. Sigh, bygones. Once Bug is on a roll, he is hiring me as his personal assistant, so we're good ;)

Here is a little slide show of my brief but eventful adventures in Bozeman:

Here is a video of Bug actually walking across the podium. You know, for the folks:

Vinni Pukh, aka, Winnie the Pooh

So its official. Winnie the Pooh is completely adorable in any language. Here is a Russian version to prove it. Though the graphics aren't any where near as good as the classic Disney version and he's more of a quirky adorable than a sentimental adorable. I'm not going to buy the DVD of this version or anything, but it sure makes me smile.

Things to Do, Places to See & Events to Attend Before I Die

So, despite the fact that I have recently been devising and confirming my summer plans, which, I am pleased to report, should keep me sufficiently busy, I have still been feeling slightly bored and a bit on the wistful side recently (maybe because I have been reading so much fiction lately- I always read a lot, but the last couple of months I have been reading A LOT). I find I always feel better when I have something to look forward to. For me, that something typically needs to be a trip or a death defying act to suitably subdue me for any decent amount of time. I have therefore concocted the below list of thing that I wish to do, places I wish to see, and events I wish to attend while there is life still in me. (Okay, so perhaps the fact that I just turned 28 may have prompted this. A bit.) After you see this list you may deem me fairly ambitious or possibly even unrealistic, but I say, it never hurt a girl to have a few aspirations. This list isn't of the practical, day-to-day, New Year's Resolution variety (get in shape, own a home, have babies, blah blah blah...), this is my just-for-the-fun-of-it, travel/adventure, obscure goal list.

TO DO:

-Tour the Holy Land (including a visit to Petra and a dip in the Red Sea)

-Take a Greece/Turkey Trip (I may need a full month for this one. So many ruins & islands, so much culture & history, such a lot of all around amazingness to behold)

-Go to Bora Bora, French Polynesia (Honeymoon?)
-Visit Angel Falls in Venezuela ('Paradise Falls' in the movie 'Up' were based off these)
-Visit the fjords in Norway during the Midnight Sun

-Visit Prince Edward Island to fullfill my Anne of Green Gables Childhood Fantasies (perhaps combine this with a Martha's Vineyard & Nantucket trip? While there, scout for a plot of land to retire as a dog lady)
-Travel a section of the Silk Road (The whole thing is ginormous and would take forever, but it would be fun to caravan a section as part of another trip or two)

-Hike to Machu Picchu, Peru

-Hike Mt Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

-Go Kayaking in New Zealand

-Do the Canopy Tour Zip-Line, Costa Rica (I did a pretty great zip-line in South Africa, but this is the big original one and is supposed to be gorgeous- apparently there is now a bigger one in New Zealand, so maybe I will just do that?)

-Drive at Maximum Speed on the Autobahnen, Germany

-Raft/Hike Through the Grand Canyon

-Walk the Great Wall of China

-Participate in an Anthropological Dig (I still secretly want to be an archaeologist, but I want to be the one crawling through tunnels, not doing paperwork. Blast you Indiana Jones and Amelia Peabody! I didn't mean that. I love you.)

-Purchase a Hand-Painted Dish Set in San Gimignano, Italy (in person)

-Gondola Ride in Venice (Been to Venice, didn't want to ride, uncoupled as I was. What a waste of romance THAT would have been)

-Go Down in a Shark Cage

-Dive the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

-Go On a Real Submarine Ride

-Swim with Dolphins (I did at a hotel once, but I mean NOT in captivity)

-Go on a Hot Air Balloon Ride (I've been up in one anchored to the ground)

-Get up the Guts and Try Out for a Show (I get queasy just thinking about it)

-Attend an Opera at the Paris Opera House (been in the building but not to a performance)

-Attend an Opera at the Sydney Opera House

-Go Hang Gliding, Paragliding

-Take Lessons: Fencing, Martial Arts or Ballroom Dancing (I took Karate for like 2 months when I was 8 or 9; Doesn't count. I have no skills. Not even nunchuck skills.)

-Sleep in a Tent On a Branch of a Giant Redwood Tree or Hooked to Ropes Along a Cliff Face (Yes, you read that right- might sound crazy but I have seen both in articles in National Geographic. Both are probably better left to the hard core professionals, but, meh)

-Live on the East Coast for a While (NY, Boston, DC…)
-Stay a Night in the Cinderella Suite in Disneyland 

-Read 1,000 novels (I'm currently in the 350's (when I remember them I add them to my Goodreads list to keep track), though I am sure there are some I am forgetting- and I am not counting books like 'Clifford the Big Red Dog' or 'The Berenstain Bears,' (I'm a Belle, not a Gaston) I mean full-length novels
-Learn Italian (even though I know Spanish would be more practical and I know its a travesty that I don't already have a second language)

-Write/Publish Something Truly Timeless & Beautiful (Article? Novel? Memoir? Obituary?)

*The Below 3 Could be Done Simultaneously:

-Stay in the Ice Hotel in Sweden (December-April)

-See the Aurora Borealis, (If via Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, November-April)

-Ride on a Dog Sled

-Attend a Formal Ball/Gala (Political?)

-Attend The Oscars and/or the Cannes Film Festival Once My Brother Parker is a Big, Famous Writer/Director (Alright, so this one requires more effort from him, but I am sure I will still have to put some work in (pleading, groveling, guilt-tripping, blackmailing...) to be his date ;)

-Attend Summer Olympic Festivities

-Be in Boston (or Chicago. Or Ireland, for that matter) for St. Patrick's Day

-Visit DC (and/or East Asia) while the Cherry Blossoms are in Bloom

-Attend a Major Sporting Event (Super Bowl, Wimbledon, a Soccer World Cup...)

-Attend the Kentucky Derby & Wear a Big Hat (May)

-Attend Comic-Con in San Diego, California (July)

-Attend Bonneville Salt Flat Races, near Salt Lake City, Utah (September)

-Attend Marti Gras, New Orleans, Louisiana (February-March)

-Attend the International Kite Festival in Adelaide, Australia (March)

-Attend Carnival in Venice, Italy (February)

-Attend a Palio Race in Siena, Italy (July & August)
- Attend the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain

-Find a Way to Survive After LOST Has Ended (I'm not kidding)

-Join the Mile High Club (Haha! I AM kidding! (PS, Mom, I'll explain it to you later))

The following list is items that I have already had the pleasure of doing, but would have been on the To-Do list otherwise. Basically my checked-off section of the list. I hope I don't sound braggy, believe me, I know perfectly well how lucky and blessed I am to have been able to do all of these things by the age of, ahem, 28, and I don't have any idea how they all came to pass or how I will fund all of the above items. I basically wrote this section to make myself feel better about the long way I have to go to accomplish the above section. If anything, you should pity me for having no personal life and compensating by aiming for outrageous things like these.

DONE:

-Live Abroad: Zimbabwe

-Get Scuba Certified

-Go Bungee Jumping: Victoria Falls (over the Zambezi River, the border between Zimbabwe & Zambia)

-Raft the Zambezi River (saw a dead floating hippo and a couple of live crocodiles. Just little ones ;)

-Ride an Elephant: Zimbabwe

-Go on an African Safari: Kenya

-Go Sky Diving: Oahu, Hawaii

-Go Parasailing: On an Eastern Caribbean Cruise

-Tour Italy, from Lake Como down to Sicily

-See 'The Last Supper' in Milan, Italy

-See 'The David,' in Florence, Italy

-Go to Monte Carlo, Monaco and See Grace Kelly's Tomb

-Go to Angkor Wat in Cambodia

-Rock Climb in Krabi, Thailand

-Visit Stonehenge

-Visit Egypt: Rode a Camel, Saw Old Cairo, Giza, Philae & Karnak, Bought Lotus Flower Perfume and a Papyrus Painting, Sailed the Nile (it was a brief and beautiful week, and there is so much more I would love to go back and see)

-Join a Cause: Tsunami Relief in Thailand

-Go Deep Sea Fishing: Caught a 30 lb Halibut Off the Coast of British Columbia

-Take a True Sailing Trip (where you live on the boat): Belize

-Ride in a Helicopter: Hawaii, Big Island

-Sleep in a Bunk on an Overnight Train ((between Mombasa & Nairobi, Kenya)

-See the Penguins in Cape Town, South Africa

-Visit a Renaissance Fair: Boise, Idaho

-Hike Goblin Valley, Arches, Canyonlands & Zions National/State Parks, Southern Utah

-Attend the Sundance Film Festival, Park City, Utah (seeing movies, not just strolling)

-Attend Winter Olympics Festivities, Salt Lake City 2002 (By accident because I happened to be at College there at the time, but I'm counting it)

-Attend a Wedding in Las Vegas, Nevada (Thanks Tawns!)

-Bike the Haleakala Volcano, Maui, Hawaii (The Sunrise Tour)

-Become a Season Ticket Holder of Something (This year for the first time, Hale Center Theatre)

-Go to Disney Land and Disney World

-Cut Down Our Own Christmas Tree

-Drive Across the United States (Okay, so we didn't go ALL the way, but from Raleigh, North Carolina to Boise, Idaho is pretty good, so I'm counting it since I have been the rest of the way on separate occasions ;)

-Become a Pirate (Okay, it may just be my Halloween default, but in my head its real. I would have been an awesome pirate. I have the Captain Jack Sparrow hat to prove it.)

By City:

New York: Go to an Original Broadway Cast Production, New York City (I have done this on more than one occasion as it is a bit of an obsession of mine); Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Metropolitan Museum, American History Museum, Walk the Entirety of Central Park, Eat in China Town, Eat in Little Italy, Dance on the Giant Floor Keyboard at FAO Schwartz, View the Rockafeller Center Christmas Tree and the Windows on Fifth Avenue at Christmas, Watch the Ball Drop in Times Square, Hail a Cab, Eat at Serendipity

London: Go to a Show in The West End (London's equivalent of Broadway); British Museum, Tower of London; Ride a Double Decker Bus; Make a Call in a Red Phone Booth (er, took a pic pretending to make a call, but whatev); Buckingham Palace; Globe Theatre; Tate Museum; Millenium Bridge

Paris: Ride Up the Eiffel Tower; Climp up Notre Dame Cathedral; Go Down Into the Catacombs; See the 'Mona Lisa' at the Louvre; Devour Crepes Galore

Rome: Tour the Vatican; See the Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel; Toss a coin into the Trevi Fountain; Stick My Hand in the Mouth of Truth; Stand on the Spanish Steps; See the Colosseum and the Roman Forum; Devour Gelato Galore

I am sure that I am leaving some things out, possibly in both sections of the list, and I'm also quite certain that I will be coming back and adding things periodically. Can anyone think of other things that I have mentioned or that I am forgetting? Any suggestions for knocking some of these off the list? Anyone want to tag along?

Roller Derby 101

(*Click the post title to go to the website*)

So this weekend my friend Jen and I went to a Girls Roller Derby match in Ogden.Why? Because there was a Girls Roller Derby match in Ogden. How could we pass up on a chance to say we'd been to one of those?

The two teams were The 25th Street Brawlers (in pink) and Wasatch Roller Derby (in blue). Right off the bat we were rooting for the Brawlers. My brother-in-law would tell me that my reasons for this are girly, as are most of my reasons for favoring certain sports teams, but I am, after all, a girl. Our reasons were as follows: 1- Their name was cooler, 2- They were wearing pink which just seemed right for a Girls Roller Derby team, and 3- they had more individual personality with bright tutus and tights than the other team that were all more demure in their choices and just felt like a whole instead of being able to single out specific girls to root for, 4- the sister of the guy who was sitting next to me was on that team. For not having been to a RD match before and having no connection to either team, I feel that these were all valid reasons.

Had to love the signs on the floor where we were sitting.

Friendly ENT's waiting on the sidelines in case someone gets severely pummeled. Disappointingly, nothing too serious happened. I wonder if these guys enjoy getting assigned to a show or if the whole time they were thinking, 'we could be out helping people who are getting hurt by accident.'

Difficult to capture such swiftly moving persons

The girl in the font in the pink tutu who is mostly in focus is Skull Candi, captain of the Brawlers.

You can go HERE to read more specific rules and get a history of the sport, which it fairly interesting, but here is what we picked up as we watched (because we had no idea before hand.) The Derby was split into two halves, each about forty minutes long, and there are several heats. In each heat one girl sticks a cover over her helmet with a star on it and to get points that girl has to get through everyone and make one full lap around. They keep trying for as many laps as they can within each heat and they swap out who has the star (and the other positions) each heat.

Unexpected Highlights (is 'highlights' the right word?):

1- There were two commentators throughout (they must have been local radio hosts or something) and I couldn't really say if they were more amusing or irritating. Example: at one point one of the Brawlers, code name, Carnage Kitten, had a pretty bad hit and the stopped everything so the ENT's could have a look at her to be safe. After a few minutes when is was clear it was nothing serious, one of the commentators said something along the lines of, "What a trooper. All Carnage is suffering from is too much awesome." Jen and I exchanged a silent eye roll and moved on.

2- There were some pretty exciting falls and shoves, but we were slightly disappointed that there was no blood and that no scuffles broke out. We did almost get rammed into by a roller girl who got knocked out of the rink. She slid into the lady sitting next to us.

3- Four little scouts came out at the beginning with an American Flag and one of them was on the microphone trying to give them orders the whole time, 'about face!' and stuff like that, and they had no idea what they were doing. It was hilarious and I wish I had gotten video of it, but I was busy with, you know, my hand over my heart like the true patriot that I am ;)

4- The fact that they patted down the girls right before the match started to make sure no one was packing any kind of shiv. The announcers played it of lightheartedly, but I'm pretty sure they were serious.

5- The creeper fourteen or so year old kid and his Grandma sitting near us. The kid had a crush on the captain of the Brawlers, 'Skull Candi', was not in the least embarrassed when Grandma told us this little fact, kept pestering his Grandma to take pictures of her for him, and at one point, in his weaselly voice, excitedly told me how Candi was dating one of the Refs, though the kid obviously didn't know her personally. Grandma told me that she came for lack of something better to do, and saw that her ex-stepdaughter (yeah, sounds complicated) was on the team, though she certainly wasn't there rooting for her. It's a toss up who wins the creeper award of these two.

Turns out we were rooting for the underdog and didn't know it. We were kind of surprised when part way through the second half we realized, ummm, where was I? Oh yes, we were surprised to discover that the Brawlers were being quite badly beaten. Because we were gradually figuring out how rules and points went as we watched, and because we were so distracted and captivated by the feisty flurry of pink, we didn't notice how often Wasatch was scoring. It ended up 142 to 67, Wasatch. apparently they have a shot at going to Nationals. Yup. Roller Derby has Nationals.

Not sure how clear it is with all the cheering, but I loved hearing them announce all their funky names. Examples: Daisy Dukes Em' Out, Tsunami Bombshell, Pandora the Explora, Mauly Mormon, Sadistic Stiletto, Skatey GaGa, Chica Dolor, Miss Bizness Das...

And here they are in action:

The verdict, creepers aside: Was it quite as exciting as I hoped it would be? Sadly no, though I bet going to Nationals or a Derby competition that was more professional and hard core, would be extremely fun. Am I glad I went, was I entertained and would I go to one again? Yes, yes and yes.

Mom. (Major Cheese Alert)

Today is my Mother's birthday. Mom is like Joe from Little Women - give her any task to do and she will put her whole heart into it and and will finish it quicker and better than you could have ever hoped for. She is seriously amazing at whatever she decides to do.

A few years ago my Dad had each of us kids write a little something about how much Mom means to us, and here is the super corny sonnet I wrote her. I do not profess any great bardic skills, though in my supreme moments of whimsy I have been known to wax poetic, and the sonnet style is my preferred victim of choice. Feel at liberty to mock away- I can take it ;)

So many things a Mother ought to be:
Supportive, patient, generous and sweet.
Strong roots She forms to grow a healthy tree,
Vast branches to provide a safe retreat.
Through your bright presence, I have witnessed each
Of these great gifts, though you may shake your head.
My place in Heaven would be within reach,
If I could better follow where you’ve led.
So blessed, I feel, to have you in my life;
You are so loving, virtuous and kind.
I know you’re there, through any form of strife;
A truer friend and guide I’ll never find.
With perfect faith that we met up above,
I have no thoughts for you but thoughts of love.

Mom, you really are amazing and I cannot wait for you guys to come home this summer so that we can play, play, play! Love you! Give Hunter (and the Pres, for that matter) a swift kick in the bum for me if they don't appreciate you today! Also, one last thing, in case you aren't embarrassed enough yet- I figure it's still three months until you guys get home, so that is enough time to forgive me. Hey! I posted my cheesy poem, so its you and me both, lady ;) Here are a couple, though sadly not high quality, song recording of Mom playing the lead in South Pacific- this was a community theater show while she was in California before she met my Dad (they were married in November of '79), so I guess this was somewhere in the 1978 to 1979 range ;) Didn't I say she was amazing?

I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair

Honey Bun

Not only did my Mother provide me with an appreciation of music and theater, but also of reading. (We enjoy so many of the same genres and authors and it will be a lot cheaper to book swap when you get home and I don't have to keep mailing things to Africa with the hopes that I will see them again!) Mom loves mysteries and has quite the collection to prove it, and what is a mystery collection without the brilliant Agatha Christie? I remember a lot of the Agatha series' were turned into TV shows and we would watch them all on Masterpiece Theater. Just watching this intro makes me sentimental and happy (images by the hilariously morbid (and appropriately named) artist, Edward Gorey):

So Mom, here's to the memories we've made and the future memories we've yet to make, but mostly here's to you. I really do love you. Happy birthday.

Kirsten. It's Your Birthday.

Well, Kirsten Lorah (Briggs) Smith, I did say that I would keep birthday posts to immediate family only, but you ARE sort of my BFF and all, so I guess I'm entitled to break the rule and reminisce for a moment on this celebratory day of your birth. How did we not know each other when we were both in Hawaii for the same summer term? How did we not hang out more during and right after our Europe semester abroad? How are we not related?! I think the following images of our joyous times together kinda prove that we should be:

Oh, whoops, that last one is from fifty years in the future, exploring some foreign beach. You get the gyst though, which basically is:

Kirsten + Hayley = Awesome


And so, my dear Kirst, sincerely from me to you . . .




Just have a happy birthday, okay?

TEXAS

So I just got back from visiting my sister Torry and her family in Amarillo, Texas. I hadn't seen T since June, and I am pretty sure that is the longest the two of us have even gone not seeing each other before, so something had to be done. Problem is, there's not a whole heck of a lot to do in Amarillo. I mean, this is it's biggest claim to fame:

So, we schemed this big trip to drive to San Antonio and take the kids to Sea World while I was visiting. We got the hotel all booked and everything was official. I happened to be browsing the Sea World San Antonio website the week before Christmas, and... oh. None of us had bothered to check and see if it was going to be open. Yeah, it wasn't. Neither was Six Flags. They both close up after New Years and reopen in March. So...

We went anyway. Why not? It was only a quick trip anyway, drive down Friday, play on Saturday, drive back Sunday, so we found plenty to fill the time. We got off a little late on Friday so by the time we got to San Antonio it was a little late to do anything. Saturday we drove a ways out of town to this Safari Park which ended up really fun with the kids. It was kind of a random thing- you drive through and feed the animals out of the window, and they just have all these animals from around the world tossed in there together- African and Asian ones along with bison, burros and even a couple of Texas Longhorns. (The biggest thing we were able to pet were the longhorns by the way- huge and as tame as a puppy. I wanted to take one home and ride it to work every day) Anyway, it was a nicely put together place and the kids loved it. Next we went to a tour of these giant ancient caverns. The kids didn't love that quite as much, but the rest of us did. Caves are just cool, okay.

After that we headed back to the hotel (named Crockett, after, you guessed it, Davy Crockett, one of the heroes of the Alamo which our hotel was right across the street from). So then we toured the Alamo and strolled along the River Walk, which is just as great as I had heard, and finished out the evening with dinner at The Rainforest Cafe, which is always a good time. We were seated by this anamatronic elephant and Eva was in a snippy mood after the long day and kept complaining that it would't stop staring at her. Then we told her it was because she had such pretty hair, and after that she was enamored and giving flirty eyes to the beasty the rest of the meal. No confidence issues with that one ;)

I didn't leave til Tuesday and Monday was just a wonderful relaxing day, going around with T and the kids- a walk in the park, feeding the ducks, pushing them on the swing... doing the stuff I miss the most now that they're in Texas. We capped off the evening with a delicious meal at a Japanese restaurant and the next morning I flew away. The next time I see them I will have another nephew as T is due in April! Woot woot!

So here's some pics of my adventures in Texas. Next time I'm there I hope I get to see an armadillo:

My New Apartment!

Whew! Okay, so, It's been a few weeks of getting everything organized, but we finally have everything (pretty much) situated in my new apartment! In case you didn't know of this development, I had been wanting to move for several months now. I was sick of the commute to work and thought it would be fun to be downtown anyway, and I had just been in the Holladay area for too long. So then in early September I randomly hung out with Anna and Ashlee, two of my best friends from high school who I hadn't seen in years, and discovered that Ashlee's lease was up the end of October and she was wanting to be downtown. Perfect.

We scoured the Avenues and Capitol Hill area for a couple of weeks and were getting pretty frustrated and then we found Park Capitol. Normally these apartments would have been a little too much, but we were able to sign a lease for like, $200 a month less than it usually is because a bunch of people had moved out all at once to buy houses. Its 2-bed, 2-bath, remodeled kitchen, hardwood floors, has a fire place... its not like its ginormous, but its perfect for just the two of us. Also, it is just behind the Conference Center, so its an eight minute walk to work for me. Awesome. We had to make a deal since there was a master bedroom, so Ashlee gets that and I get the covered parking spot (she has to find street parking). I am totally okay with that, 1- because Ash is a musician and has her guitar and keyboard and needs the room and 2- because Ashlee doesn't have front room furniture but I do, so stuff I would have normally tried to cram into my bedroom, like my big beautiful bookshelves, can be out in the sitting area and we aren't fighting over the space for our stuff and 3- ummm, I haven't had covered parking for a while and I'm thrilled about that. Have you BEEN is Salt Lake in the winter?! Anyway, so that's the down low and here's some pics:

Oh, hello, and welcome.

I adore our cozy front room.

Aaaaah, my beautiful coat rack/umbrella stand that I love so and stained to match . . .

. . . My beautiful bookshelves that I love even more. Especially with my beautiful hardcovers filling them up. Beautiful ;)

My cute vintage magazine rack by the couch (a couch that I love and has been in the family for years and years- it is so worn and needs to be recovered) ... and I need to get something to put between the coat rack and the bookshelves. I stuck a couple side tables there just to have a place to stick them, but I would like to find a storage bench or chest to put there and keep quilts in. Right now our extra blankets are just stuffed into the bottom row of the bookshelves.

My beautiful 42' flat screen that I splurged on. It was just time. We still need to find a painting to stick over the fireplace- we debated mounting the TV, but its drywall and I think it would have been more of a hassle than anything since it fits perfect in the counter space. Mmmmmm, fireplace.

Our lovely remodeled kitchen- where I am standing is where we have our humble little kitchen table... with no chairs yet, so you don't get a picture of that.

My bathroom. It is so nice to have our own, and even though mine is smaller I kind of love that I have a shower instead of a shower/bath, cause those get gross and I never take baths anyway. Oh, and I love my new paisley towels.

I just realized I totally should have lined these pictures up since they are right next to each other. Bygones. Anyways, this rack for my hoodies was a bugger to put up since its drywall. This floor mirror was another little gem from KSL Classifieds, but as you can see it is currently dismantled as I am in the process of sanding it to stain it dark like the coat rack.

This dresser in humongous- another great KSL find. I love this thing- since it is one big chink of wood as opposed to a put-it-together piece of furniture, I was especially grateful for brothers with big trucks and big arms the day I got it! It took some seriously ingenious maneuvering to bet the sucker in place. I would love to eventually sand it and stain dark too, but it is such a big piece that I really need a garage space to do it in, so that will have to wait a while.

I didn't take pictures of Ashlee's room, but here's our place! There are definitely some odds and ends to take care of and to still get... kitchen chairs... paintings... a little desk for my room to stick my computer on... possibly a little truck for the end of my bed and the other one to hold blankets in the front room. Sigh, all in good time. There are more pressing things to be putting my funds towards at the moment I'm afraid. All in all though, I am loving the place.

It's the Simple Pleasures... Like Hardcover Novels

I'm a hardcover person. They just look so beautiful on the shelf and I love the weight of them and how they are big enough to just lie open in your lap. I even love the papery smell when I buy a new hardcover... and I love the ones with the perforated edges and when you flip through a tiny poof of dust comes up from the freshly printed pages... I hear the creaking sound of the binding being opened and bent for the first time ... and I know a new adventure is about to start. It's true that they aren't as convenient for airplane rides because they are so bulky, but that, my friends, is what trendy softcover novels you don't mind throwing away are for, and also what Audiobooks that you can put on your iPod are for. If it is an author or a series that I really like or any book that I plan on keeping my own copy of, it has got to be hardcover.

The last couple of years I have gone through the Used books on Amazon.com like crazy to find hardcover copies of all my favorite series because I HATED having half in soft and half in hard- I'm a little OCD I think, but oh well, because now my bookshelves look lovely ;) I had never really given much thought to Deseret Industries except for going there to get Halloween costumes, which is what I was doing the week before Halloween his year when I discovered they have a pretty great little book section, with quite a few hardcovers, and they are all just two dollars each! So, now I have a new hobby. Some of the great hardcover finds I have purchased in the last few weeks are:


* A compilation book of three E.M. Forster novels- A Room With a View, Howard's End & Where Angels Fear to Tread
* Some John Grisham favorites-
-The Pelican Brief
-The Client
-Runaway Jury
- (Keeping my eyes out for A Time to Kill)
* Sense & Sensibility (to go with my hardcovers of Emma and Pride & Prejudice)
* Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
* Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
* The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
* The Complete Works of Shakespeare (k, so I already own a copy, but for the price, what could I do! So I got it for my friend Kirsten who I knew didn't have it already because she borrowed mine once and teased me for my notes that were still stuck in certain pages from when I took a Shakespeare course at BYU- you really wanted to know all that, right?)

My fantasy is to one day have a library like in Beauty & The Beast-

Okay, so maybe I would want something a tad bit cozier in scale, with fire places and rugs and pillows everywhere to just plop down and read, but you get the idea. Oh, I could just live in there. Speaking of which, my Mom could as well and I always tell her that when they are super old I will build a little guest room right off of my giant library for her to live in so she can just open her door right into the library in the morning and get to reading. Also, I will need to live by water, at least a little pond or something so Dad can have a place to putter around in a little sailboat. I have this wonderful vision of him as a senile old sailor- with scruff on his face and we'll have to ring the bell for him to come to dinner and he'll never take off his Captains hat. Dad may not be a huge fan of this potential scenario, but I think of it fondly ;)

Dad. It's Your Birthday.

How cool is this guy? Yeah, that's my dad, doing his famous monkey arms which, sadly, he can't do with quite so much ease these days, blasted shoulders. He's our bionic man now, with shoulder replacements. Did the monkey arms one too many times, I guess.

Not to brag or anything, but, my dad is basically amazing. Also, he's 61 years old today. I debated posting this yesterday evening since they are in Durban, South Africa right now which is currently nine hours ahead of us, but then I thought, well, but, he was born in a US time zone, so... its all very complicated.

Dad has always been so energetic and ambitious and positive, and this has led him into truly making a difference and leaving a mark on this world. For instance, back in the 80s he helped to start a couple of non-profit organizations, Deseret International Foundation and also Enterprise Mentors International. Then in the June of 1999, the summer before I was to start my Senior year of high school, we moved to Harare, Zimbabwe for two years so that my Dad could put together and put on Aids prevention seminars called Education for Life. Now he and my Mom and my two youngest brothers are in Durban, South Africa where my Dad has been Mission President for two and a half years this December.

http://www.aegis.com/news/ads/2000/AD001292.html

http://www.unwire.org/unwire/20000717/9817_story.asp

Dad has always done things big. He was always around when I was growing up, but its not the day to day stuff that I remember the most, it was the 'excursions.' Dad is all about planning and is amazing at dealing with groups and so if we were going camping or rock climbing or to the beach or to my Grandparents farm, we always had all the right gear and everything always felt so official. The day to day stuff that I DO recall was big on it own- like spending hours making a giant Lego creation or hours making a fort in the sand. Everything turned into a project. Dad cannot stand to feel idle and if something needs to be done, he just wants to get it done- you can throw out something really casual like, 'I need to run to the store and get some eggs,' and he is back in five minutes with coat and keys in hand saying, 'well, are we going?'

Taking his Mama for a spin on the Harley

Dad is certified to captain a sailboat- sailing is a passion of his which I fully support ;)

Growing up Dad and I, well, clashed a lot. I think we had just the right characteristics that were alike along with the right characteristics that were unalike to create friction. The like characteristics being things like a quick-temper, pig-headedness, sarcasm and stubbornness and being lousy at backing down or admitting we're wrong... (feel free to dispute, Dad, but its true ;) but then I have a lot of my mom in me as well, being very emotional and sensitive and noticing and reading into everything, and I get very overprotective. My parents created in me a contradiction of personality traits. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it didn't always bode well for Dad. My parents have said that I was born with a chip on my shoulder, and its true, I am fairly cynical and suspicious and keep a lot of walls up and am happy to offer help but hate to accept it... always been like that since I was born, and somehow a lot of that chip found itself directed at Dad. I knew a lot of girls growing up who wanted to marry someone like their dad. I wasn't one of them. Not then, at least.

The older I get, the more I can look at what I consider his 'flaws' (many of which are the same as mine, which is probably why I am so sensitive about them) and not mind them so much. Now I can appreciate the amazing things we have in common like our sense of humor, our love of travel and cultures, our appreciation of the arts, a sort of conservative liberal view of the world... I actually sort of had a surprising and unexpected epiphany just a couple of months ago: People always ask, 'what are you looking for in a man,' or, 'what's your type,' which are not easy questions to answer. I think its silly to have a list, and most of the people I know that are the happiest ended up with people totally different from what we all would have expected. I was sort of just sitting and thinking of the most important qualities, the things I wanted to have in common with someone I would marry, and all of a sudden it hit me: I'm describing my Father. Not completely and exactly, of course, but all the big things fit. Aaah, the beauty of hindsight.

One of Dad's more recently acquired hobbies: doting Grandpa

So old man, we've had our ups and down, but I like to think its only up from here. I love you and I am proud of the life you have led and that I am a part of it, and I am so excited for you guys to come home and for all of the adventuring ahead of us. Have a great birthday.