TELL MOM AND DAD IT'S THE SAFE WAY TO BREAK AND POP

Did you think I forgot about So Can Dance? SUPRISE! I didn't. It's just going to be so awesome it won't be posted for a day or two (or maybe I had some technically DVR difficulties so I need to wait until it's online somewhere to do my final analysis). While I hold you in suspense of my reviews and NICKNAMES guess who is this season's Carlton and enjoy the following message.

KINDRED SPIRITS

I talk about K and Ash on this blog quite a bit, in fact I gave a brief synopsis of our current lives a few months ago. BUT I don't think I've ever told the story of how we met. In fact I was looking through my journals and I haven't written it down either. I just start talking about them all of a sudden. So with the guilt of doing my own family history at the forefront of my mind here is the story.

Eight months after I moved from Okinawa, Japan to Plano, Texas I had a few friends but none that Anne Shirley would call kindred spirits. Kristin and I knew each other through a mutual friend but we had never spent much time together. Our church meetings met at different times and we went to different high schools. Through this mutual friend the three of us agreed to be girls camp counselor partners together. After the first few girls camp planning meetings our mutual friend ended up ditching us to be partners with another girl. So Kristin and I were stuck together by default - planning and preparing to counsel a group of 12 year old girls. Of course we ended up having a hoot and we were quickly enlightened that it was met to be us two all along.

A month or so later we went off to girls camp. All the youth camp counselors got to stay in the coveted three sided cabin. When I say coveted, I mean COVETED. Subsequent years at that camp proved near fatal in the bloodshed fought over who got to stay in that cabin. See it was huge and it didn't have any beds so you got to sleep wherever, even the bug infested pool table was up for grabs. And the un-walled side? It was actually a deck overlooking the lake. It was different, it was party central, and of course everyone wanted to stay there. So there we are, a dozen 16 year-old-girls that all looked a hot mess. And since we didn't have many responsibilities (we were too old to do any of the camp activities and too young to be directors) we basically sat around, snuck cereal out of the cafeteria cabin (sorry Sister Davis), and made each other laugh. I don't believe more fun was ever had by a group of sun burned, badly bug bitten girls. So I went from a few acquaintances to a entire group of friends. Ashley was in that group. I had seen her sing at a stake youth fireside when I first moved to Texas, and Kristin and Ashley had met before had never hung out. See Ashley's church meetings were at a different time then mine or Kristin's and she went to the third high school in Plano. So the three of us became close at girls camp but afterwards we ended up calling each other for every weekend activity. From there we were just best friends.

A little over a year later we had to decide our freshman year roommates while applying for BYU (one of the cruelties of the system - you apply for housing before you're accepted, isn't that depressing when one of you doesn't get in?). We applied to live in David John Hall in a shared four person suite with a bathroom. Ashley was going to live with a girl from her ward (our other close friend Sage) and Kristin and I lived in the adjoining room. I remember millions of people saying off handed comments like, "That friendship won't last," or "You guys are going to HATE each other by the end of freshman year." Well we didn't always love each other but we did mostly get along. From there I lived with either Kristin or Ashley and mostly both until I got married nearly 6 years later. TAKE THAT HATERS!

We've been through awful relationship decisions. Even worse hair decisions. And living all over the US (and K in London for four months). And guess what? We are still friends. I think if we've made it through these past 10 years the next 50 won't be a problem. The only problem now is that our husbands probably won't let us live next to each other like we always planned. Which is okay because it gives us an excuse for girls week once a summer.

Now if you are ever around us and you need to understand our Isms, here is a guide:

Come back for anything, ANYTHING: Your mom.

If something is too expensive: What, did Brad Pitt pee on it?

If someone does something typical: She wooooould (in a deep voice).

And you need to know that our default movie for any occasion or quote is Center Stage.

Girls Camp Summer 1999

End of BYU freshman year April 2002

Ashley's Wedding September 2005

My wedding June 2007

Kristin's Wedding October 2009

HITCHED 10.10.09

I just spent the last week in Texas for Kristin and Adam's wedding. Brad stayed home to study and missed a truly awesome time. I thought weddings were supposed to be stressful? But I honestly had so much fun. I'm still sorting through the pictures so for now here's one of the bride and her maids (can you guess who's who? Here's a hint: Wendy, this is proof you ARE super tan. Jealous).


More to come.

THREE

ONE. I have been at my current place of employment for 1 year, a whole years worth of new knowledge about the medical world. Things I never knew I didn't want to know. Seriously, I'll keep the stories to myself. I won't scare you. It also means I have spent at least 520 hours driving to and from home or approximately 22 days. That is A LOT of NPR. I can’t believe I’m not a raving liberal yet.

TWO. Today is the first day of Fall. Having lived through all of them now, this is by far my favorite season in the midwest.

THREE. And since we can now officially say “last summer” in reference to Summer 2009 it’s about time I finished recapping our Utah trip (you think?). To expedite matters here is a pictorial summary:


We visited with Brooke and Dave's family and met one the newest members of the Carns, plus we enjoyed Brooke's famous cooking. Mmmmm.

We went to dinner with our Timp Gateway group, the "Adventure Club." Although that name is misleading because actual adventures are rare. We are far more likely to eat food and play cards when we get together.

We also made some time to go to BYU, this is Brad's "18 year-olds are old enough to go here?" look.

Of course we needed chocolate covered cinnamon bears.

I also spent time with K and J. What did we do? Eat food, watched So Can Dance, and had a Veronica Mars marathon. True friendship doesn't require fancy fun, just regular fun.

Utah, you were good to us this year. Hopefully we'll see you soon.

AM I CRAZY,

or does the soundtrack to New Moon look half decent?

1. DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE – Meet Me On The Equinox

2. BAND OF SKULLS – Friends

3. THOM YORKE – Hearing Damage

4. LYKKE LI – Possibility

5. THE KILLERS – A White Demon Love Song

6. ANYA MARINA – Satellite Heart

7. MUSE – I Belong To You (New Moon)

8. BON IVER & ST. VINCENT – Roslyn

9. BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB – Done All Wrong

10. HURRICANE BELLS – Monsters

11. SEA WOLF – The Violet Hour

12. OK GO – Shooting The Moon

13. GRIZZLY BEAR – Slow Life

14. EDITORS – No Sound But The Wind

15. ALEXANDRE DESPLAT – New Moon (The Meadow)

***Calm down Jenny it's been months since I mentioned anything Twilight related.

UTAH: PART TROIS

We were so sore and sunburned from hiking Timp that our original plans to drive down to Zions and hike The Narrows was nixed. We still wanted to take advantage of the mountains so we headed to Big Cottonwood Canyon and hiked a super easy trail at the Brighton Ski Resort. Seriously, it was SO easy and SO short. We definitely needed the relaxation. We had a little trouble finding the trail head so we went towards this large cabin where it appeared a Girl’s Camp was in progress. We came across an elderly gentleman who happily volunteered to drive us to our destination. He went on to tell us the history of the Girl's Camp cabin and his own home. How they have to drive snow mobiles half the year and how the housing boom and crash affected their quiet neighborhood. He pointed out several vacant multimillion dollar homes in various states of completion and shook his head at the scars they’ve left on his landscape. You could tell he was trying to feel out our religious affiliation (OHHH Utah) so we volunteered information about our WARD and our BYU DEGREES. He was such a sweet man, I just wanted to knit him some slippers and ask him to be my grandpa. Don’t you love those random people you come across in life that are just so… pleasant?

So we found the trail and made it to Lake Mary where we took more pictures (SHOCKER, I KNOW) and kicked back with some water and granola bars. There were some incredibly dark clouds that ended up looking great in the photos. All in all, unlike Timp, I would suggest this 1 mile hike for anyone and everyone, plus you get to drive up the canyon which is always worth the trip.

UTAH: PART DEUX

Our big goal of our trip was to climb Mt Timpanogos. I did it once my freshman year and Brad has never done it. While we’ve always heard that it’s the quintessential Utah Valley Hike we’ve also heard it was on the tougher side. Brad and I consider ourselves experienced hikers, but we haven’t done much of that in Illinois (remember the all consuming flatness we’re currently blessed with?). We got to the trail head at 6:30 AM and reached the summit around eleven. We spent some time at the tip-top and signed our names in the guest book. Luckily we were there on a Tuesday so it wasn’t too busy; according to said guest book at least 100 people had been there the Saturday before. The hike really isn’t that difficult, it’s just looooong. The last mile to the summit is a bit precarious; I wouldn’t suggest it to the faint of heart. But reaching the saddle just below the peak is still worth it, you still get to see the incredible view of the valley. Once we finally made it back to the car we visited JDawgs before heading back to my mom’s house. We took about a million pictures so I’m sorry to post so many - it’s just easier to add a bunch then to decide which ones I like.

The More You Know Moment: Brad and I didn’t pack sunscreen. We were foolish. Between the back of Brad’s arms and my face, once we started peeling we were one aloe bottle away from joining a leprosy colony. Choosing to hike mid-summer in high altitude = not our smartest move.

JUST A FRIENDLY REMINDER

... So Can Dance starts tomorrow. I know. Didn't we just finish season 5 last week? I wouldn't even care if we did, get excited! Season 6 in the hizzzouse.

For now here is Ellen dancing with the top 10. Hilarious.

DUUUUUDE

*this is spoiler free


Who has finished? I need friends to discuss this with. Because remember when the thing happens at the beginning and then that other thing happens and then there's that thing with the thing and then there's THE THING?! Okay, clearly I need someone to be nodding along to my train of thought. PLEASE. Has anyone else finished yet?

UTAH: PART UN

Pictures and re-cap are coming in increments over the next week. Get on the edge of your seat people, these posts are going to BLOW YOUR MIND. Honestly they'll be pretty boring, but since this is kind of our scrapbook/journal I can't leave out our vacation. It might be our last one for a very long time.

So we'll start from the beginning of the trip...

In high school I had a very... colorful room. That's probably an understatement. This is just one portion of the room, a TV shelf painted to reflect the earth and the sky (I was DEEP). So it turns out my mom wanted a more subtle shelf for her craft room so it got painted white. This picture is the last remaining vestige of its former glory. I always knew I should have been a professional shelf painter. I would have made BANK in the brightly painted philosophically themed niche shelf market. Dang it!


After doing some chores we made a beeline for Cafe Rio - well you get thrown out of Rio if you dare to take pictures of their secret going-ons so this is a picture on the way to Rio. But it's debatable on whether we were more excited to eat or see the mountains again. I totally took them for granted before.


I also got to spend some quality time with Kster. Not only is she getting married in a little over a month (!!!!) but her and Adam bought a house in Orem. This is a picture by their front door. I got to see their fabulous book nook, fireplace, and huge downstairs. K, ash, and I have known each other for almost ten years. It's crazy to think how much we have all changed. Who would have guessed how we'd all end up:

Ash - married to Sam, living in Cali, has Parker, with another dumpling on the way
K- almost married to Adam, has a house in Orem, works in Provo
B - married to Brad, living in Southern Illinois, working in St. Louis

And we all have college degrees, I think we've done pretty well for ourselves. I'm glad I can actually be proud of my friends. Thanks for not going off the deep end guys! I do love them and I'm proud of all of us.

Wait, is this post supposed to be about Utah? Oops. More to come... I'll stay on topic next time.

M.I.A. (LIKE THE MILITARY, NOT THE SINGER)

Confession. I have been MIA. That might not be such a revelation but it's true. This blog has lacked over the last several weeks for reasons out of my control. I have a new position at church - second counselor in the Relief Society presidency. Talk about intimidating! So I went from hanging out with 11 year olds and making friendship bracelets to hanging out with ladies, well, several years older. So things have changed around here. My first big assignment was organizing an evening activity for all the ladies of the ward about family history. Confession #2 - I don't do family history. I know, I'm awful! But the truth is I was intimidated about the process and didn't even know where to start. So instead of skirting the issue for the next few decades I was faced head on with not only tackling the subject, I was actually responsible for teaching others about it!? Yikes. So I called in reinforcements (aka the women who are basically professionals) to teach the classes on family history and then I taught a class about doing your own personal history - blogging, writing in your journal, writing your own memoir, ect. Oh boy was I nervous! I was positive disaster would ensue and the earth would open up to swallow me whole and then worse they would kick me out relief society altogether. But you know what? We had fun. The night turned out great and everyone seemed to actually learn something. So over the last few months of this calling I've come to realize that the Lord does indeed work in mysterious ways.

We had that family history activity a few weeks ago and then last week my uncle coincidentally gets on facebook and starts sharing all these pictures from dad's side of the family. He had no idea that I've been going through my pedigree chart over the last few weeks wishing I had pictures of ancestors beyond my grandparents. But WAH-LA! There they were served to me on a silver platter. Thank you Right Click and Save Image As, you are lifesavers.

The above picture is of my great-aunt Rita. Isn't she fabulous? I'd take those glasses and cardigan any day.

So am I now some aficionado on family history? Heck no. But do I have a pedigree chart 4 generations back? Indeed I do. I can finally stop feeling guilty.

MARRIAGE: THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

I have two early memories of my Aunt Pete. When I was four years old I legitimately beat her at UNO (her words) and told her to, "try harder next time." I gave pretty solid advice as a kid. Since my family moved all over the planet when I was growing up we didn't get to see our extended family often, but when we visited Aunt Pet she would buy us Lucky Charms and let us takes sips of her Pepsi, so when we visited her one time when she broke her leg a little foot rub was in order. This is the same Aunt who "interviewed" Brad when we were dating to make sure he was allowed to be in our family. Good thing he passed, who knows were we'd be. Seriously, she is probably one of the funniest people I know.

Oh, and AUNT Pete you ask? That's another story. Her real name is Sharon but she'll always absolutely be Pete to me. I think I'm going to give one of my children a perfectly sensible name and then call her Harold just for kicks. My children are going to love me.

So the point of this post is that when Brad and I went to Utah in July we received another wedding present- a quilt. Aunt Pete and Aunt Peggy shared the sewing duties (from seperate states) and then Aunt Pete put it all together and finished it up. I've been trying to use it every possible chance to wear it in and make it look loved. I'm so happy that I have something beautiful, tangible and long lasting from our newlywed days. Oh, and it turns out I really like getting wedding presents... so feel free to keep em coming!