Quick Trip

I had a quick whirlwind of a trip home to Utah. I flew in Friday afternoon, and was able to enjoy a Cafe Rio lunch with the Peos. It was so good to see them again since they had to move from Boston. Kat was a chatterbox, being on a sleepover high. Maglet performed headstands for me... in their spacious, beautiful new house! I loved just being able to chat on the bed with Delise & Jeff. Thanks again, guys!

All summer, whenever I talked to Audrey, she asked me to take her swimming at the rec center so she could wear her new Sleeping Beauty bikini. I was always the one to take them there, so of course, we had to go while I was in town. However, Audrey has since moved on from her Sleeping Beauty suit, and wore her Tink swimming suit. We enjoyed floating around the lazy river, and Ethan loved getting stuck in the whirlpool. Julian said he was "afraid" of the not-so-scary alligator slide, but still managed to go down over and over again. I forgot how adorable two-year-olds are. Preston was old enough to go down the big slide without an adult! When did that happen?

Saturday was a very full day with Lizeth and Tyson's wedding! We started early in the morning at the temple, then had pictures and the luncheon, at which point Julian was already worn out.

After that, Pat, Hilary and I went to get the flowers (with only one spill!), and went to the reception hall to help set up a few things there. The ring ceremony was beautiful, with Sofia walking her daughter down the aisle.Following the ring ceremony, there was a dinner, followed by the reception with plenty of dancing. All of my cousins were there with their kids, so it was a full house. She had the little flower girls dress like fairies (see Audrey and Savannah in front of the picture below). It was adorable to watch them dancing around together. I also bribed Ethan into dancing with me, so I would get him a Webkinz. I only got about a half a dozen of the dreadful "It's your turn next" comments.I took Julian outside for a bit, as he was getting restless at the reception. I asked him which story he wanted to hear and he chose the Three Little Pigs. I was about to say the big, bad wolf huffed and puffed for the third time, when Julian held out his hand and said, "stop!" I tried starting again, but "stop!" Julian then proceeded for me, extending his arms out in explanation, "then the big, bad wolf said, 'I'm happy!'" Me: "he didn't blow down the house?" Julian: "Nope, he's happy!" He is just at my favorite age, he was so cuddly and said the cutest things. He doesn't say, "I love you," but "love you too," even if he's the first to say it. He also likes to tattle a little, saying, "he hurt me," with big crocodile tears. After going all day long, I was worn out, especially with the time zone difference. I went home and went to bed. My mommy came and chatted with me in bed when she got home.

On Sunday, I was able to get up early and have breakfast with Joy and Amy, who had a hard weekend. We spent a lot of time crying and trying not to cry on the bed. I am so glad that I was able to be there right at that time. These girls are some of my dearest friends.

My flight left in the early afternoon, so I just had a little church time with the kids. Audrey wanted me to read the Book of Mormon to her, so we read 3 Nephi 11. It was such a sweet chance for me to testify of the Savior, Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. It gets harder to leave my family every time, but my flight awaited me.

The kid next to me on the plane took his shoes off and had stinky feet! I was so nauseated and so glad to finally land. I used to think it would be great to travel for work, but I'm realizing that I couldn't do it. My sweet friend Kristie picked me up from (not to mention taking me to) the airport, and we spent some time talking on the bed. Monday, after a long, long day at work, I had a roommate chat on my bed. I enjoyed connecting with people during all of the "bed chats" I had this weekend. I am blessed to have good relationships and wonderful people in my life.

Camping

This year instead of the ward campout to Camp Joseph in Sharon, Vermont, there was a region campout instead. We went to Zions Camp, which the church recently purchased for girl's camp in New Hampshire. There were people from all over New England in attendance. One great thing was the lake. We rowed over to this little island in the middle and explored a bit. The weather was perfect and sunny that weekend. I was able to play a little volleyball... sorry to all the people I hit with my serve. In the evening, there was a scavenger hunt followed by a talent show, looking out over the steamy lake. Of course, we stayed up way too late talking around the campfire... my favorite part about camping.

Now, I am no stranger to sleeping on the ground, but I have to admit that a few of us slept in my friend Kristie's car. In my defense, they didn't have regular tents. They had platform tents which did not seal closed at all... and they were covered with spider webs... and I could just imagine all the creepy-crawlies that I would wake up with. Eww! Instead, we slept in the car, although, I'm a little too tall to do so and probably changed positions about a hundred times that night. At least it was toasty warm.

For church the next day, we had a testimony meeting looking over lake. I love being able to have the sacrament out in nature, to be able to look around at God's creations during this ordinance. It was the perfect ending to the campout.

Creepy Night

My co-workers got the idea into my head that the new(ish at this point) Batman movie would be awesome to see on IMAX. However... busy me, I haven't had a free weekend or evening that I could make it out to see it and it wasn't sold out. Finally, Friday night, my roommate Katie and I decided to go. Lucky for us, because it was the last weekend it would be showing.

We arrived at the theater, which is connected to a furniture store (of which you have to wander through the whole building to get to the theater). The whole first floor is set up like a mini-New Orleans... the colors were very loud... weird statues/paintings everywhere of people wearing masks. To get into the theater, we had to go up an escalator that was crawling with paparazzi. No, really... there are news reporters painted on the walls on both sides, news reporters chattering ("look this way!" "over here!"), and bulbs flashing. Next time I need a pick me up, I think I'll get dressed up and just go up and down the escalator a few times to feel like I'm walking down the red carpet. ;)

We had to sneak our Quizno sandwiches in... and hold them in our laps because the darn worker stayed in the theater for like ten minutes after the movie started. We sat back to enjoy the Dark Knight, enhanced by the "butt-kickers" in the seats (kind of like the rumble pack on game controllers). The movie has amazing action and stunts. Katie's favorite is when the semi truck drives up the wall and flips over. Joker is quite disturbing, but Heath Ledger was so convincing in the role.

After the movie, I had to use the restroom. I walked in and the doors to all the stalls were floor to ceiling mirrors. I tried a door, but it was locked, so found another. I entered the stall and turned around to find that the doors are one-way mirrors! You can see out into the entire restroom... including the people walking up to your stall to try to open the door! It was really weird to look at people while peeing. It was also dim inside the stalls to prevent people from seeing you. All in all, it was a little bit creepy night, but quite enjoyable. :)

Finally

Tonight I had my first ever piano and singing lessons. My cute and talented friend Holly is going to teach me. She studies voice here and is amazing. I am so excited to learn how to play the piano... I have always wanted to learn. And considering that I am singing all the time, it's probably a good idea to learn how to do that better. Holly had me do the funniest things to warm up... stretching, bending, breathing... there is a lot more to breathing than I ever knew. I am very excited to be taking lessons!

Musical & Clam Bake

After a couple of weeks of working on my new apartment, I was ready to have some fun last weekend...

Friday, I saw a musical that I have not seen before... Into the Woods. It was a lot of fun... for those of you who haven't seen it, Into the Woods combines the Brothers Grimm tales of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack & the Beanstalk, and Rapunzel. Of course there is a witch, who is hilarious... she even raps about her rutabaga and nectarines. The music is fun and got stuck in my head... "the woods are just trees, trees are just wood..." but that happens a lot in my head. :)

Saturday, my ward had a good old New England Clam Bake. It had been scheduled for the week before, but thanks to the rain from Hurricane Ike, it was postponed. I was a little worried that the weather would be rainy again, but the clouds cleared away just in time. The day was warm and the sky was my favorite shade of blue. I had planned on eating a lobster, but having never cracked open and gutted one myself, they didn't look too appealing that day. I steered clear of the seafood and had a hot dog instead. :) We enjoyed some frisbee and even got into the water... well, up to my waist at least. The Atlantic is COLD! I guess everywhere can't be as warm as Hawaii.My new roommates Jan Marie and Catherine... Katie was out of town and missed the clam bake (but don't feel too bad, she was in England). It was nice to just enjoy a day out in the fresh air and sun. I'm going to miss them this winter.

Fungi

When I worked for Jacobsen Construction, they would give us a Home Depot gift card every Christmas. While I'm sure most of the people working for a construction company would have plenty of uses for it, as an accountant (not a bricklayer), it would usually sit in my purse for quite a few months before I could come up with a good use for it. Last year, I decided to buy plants for my new apartment. One of them was a couple of little mini-palm trees. The smaller one subsequently died, leaving me with just one palm tree. Suddenly this summer, I started noticing little yellow things budding in the dirt. I thought they might be new palms coming up... but no, they were mushrooms! Where did they come from? Who knows? I dug them out several times, but they just kept coming back. This week I finally decided to repot all of my plants. It is actually quite therapeutic to get to dig in the dirt. My new apartment has a nice deck, which was the perfect place for it, and it was gorgeous weather. I discovered two things... first, I think I'm going to be spending a lot of time out there this fall, and second, I should have been a botanist.

Change of Residence

I have never been in such a state of constant exhaustion as I have the last week or so. Moving is a big job. Luckily, we were able to get into the apartment a few days early, because we needed to clean (more like scrub and sanitize) everything and paint to cover up the hideous colors that were on the walls. Funny story... when we went to buy the paint at the local Home Depot, the guy helping us was flirting and saying we chose ducky yellow (which, by the way, we changed our minds about) and somehow the conversation got onto names. My roommate Katie has a very common last name and he said that he did as well in Peru. But the combo with his first name, Aleksei, not so much. I said, "that's a Russian name," and he said, "I know." And without even thinking, I asked him if his parents were Communists... because a man I met on my mission was Peruvian and his parents were Communists and that's how he ended up in Russia, so you know, Russian name, Peruvian parents... normal question, right? Katie did her very best of keeping a straight face, but laughed about it as soon as we could. AND he didn't get offended, so I think they secretly are... not that it's a bad thing or anything. Speaking of Russians, I hired movers and when they showed up, they were speaking Russian! It was so fun for me to get to chat a little and listen to them speak. I don't get that chance very often. They moved a heavy couch for Katie down three flights of winding stairs and she's pretty sure she learned a few Russian curses. I was grateful to have someone take care of it for me, even if I did have to pay them.
One thing that I feel proud of is that we were able to make the scuzzy apartment we first encountered into a nice place to live. (Don't worry, pics will come when we're done... about 80% there.) There is something therapeutic about making something more beautiful. I always seem to see a place for its potential. This apartment came together much faster than my last one. My mind has a hard time resting when I know I have so much to do... so I was only able to sleep four or five hours a night before my mind was up and restless, knowing I needed to work. (I took a medicine the other night that made me sleepy, so the next day at work, I was called a drunk sailor. Reminded me of the first time I took Benadryl and couldn't even get one word to form on my lips. I kept saying, "sko... sko... sko..." then dropped my head back onto the pillow.) I also have a hard time imposing my mess on other people, so have felt the need to get everything put together quickly.
It has been so nice to have roommates and people close enough to just stop by. It has made me so much happier. My roomies have all been great this last week. I think we are going to have fun living together!

My Sad Story

I am (slowly) getting packed and ready to move to a new apartment this weekend, however, when one of my Russian friends, Vika, e-mailed me and said she would be in New York, AND I found bus tickets for $30 round trip, AND I realized it's been almost seven years since I saw her, AND how often do I get to see anyone from my mission... I decided to go for the weekend. Saturday morning, I woke up at 4:15 am so that I could catch the 6:30 bus, made it down to New York around 10:30 am, then waited... and waited... and waited... but Vika never came. I called her hotel to see if she was waiting for me there, but they couldn't find her name in their system. After an hour and a half, I went to the hotel, but still couldn't find her. I determined that I was still going to do something fun, though, so I went and bought a ticket to see the matinee of Mary Poppins, the musical, on Broadway.
I really enjoyed the play. Mary Poppins is probably my favorite Disney movie, but I was glad that I read the playbill before the show started and had some warning... only about half of the music is from the movie and the rest is new. They also reworked the lyrics to some of the movie songs. They added additional stories from the books. It made me want to read them. There were of course some magical Disney moments... Bert walks up the side of the stage and upside-down across the top during Step In Time, they shower the audience with stars during Anything Can Happen If You Let It, and Mary Poppins flies up and out over the audience with her bird umbrella for the finale. Feed the Birds always makes me a little teary-eyed. Did you know that was Walt Disney's favorite song?
After the play, I went back to Chinatown and took the bus home. It was a very long day and I was very disappointed not to be able to connect with Vika. I had even been practicing speaking in Russian. I hope that nothing terrible happened to her. I realized how much I depend on my cell phone now... don't know how I ever got along without it. Very frustrating and sad. :(

One good thing was that I saw how easy it is to go to New York from here. I can't believe I haven't gone at all in the last year. I think that I may go more often... and my cousin Jenni, who loves musicals, just moved to DC. Jen, do you want to meet up in New York for musicals every so often???

Coast to Coast Friends

Kim & Lisa

Cassie & I

Last weekend, my good friend Kim came to visit me from San Diego, California, where she moved to about the same time I came to Boston. She dragged along her friend Cassie that she met there. Our friend, Lisa, from Utah also came along for the fun. On Saturday, we decided to take the ferry to Salem, and it was a beautiful day.

Our first stop was The House of Seven Gables, of Nathaniel Hawthorne fame. In case you weren't aware, they explained that a gable is created when there are extension from the ridge of the roof, creating the triangular wall. Much of the house and furnishings is original (which I'm not used to, since most old houses I've toured are pioneer recreations because the originals were destroyed). I loved the secret staircase hidden in the panel next to the fireplace. I always wished there were a secret passage in my house and remember pretending the deep storage closets in my Grandma Turner's basement would actually go somewhere. My friend Kristie's parents are building a secret passage in their new house and I think I'm going to have to do the same if I ever build a house. :)
The grounds also contain the house where NH was born and exquisite gardens. NH was somewhat of a recluse, which makes it surprising that he was able to write about people so well. It was interesting to get a glimpse of his life, growing up near the ocean. I adored the beautiful gardens... have I mentioned that I love flowers?




Just a quick plug... I had the best gelati at this cute shop called Rita's. I had the cherry Italian ice flavor with deliciously creamy custard. Loved the "Guide to Ordering Happiness", with signs showing us where to Order and Pick-Up Happiness. There are only two in MA, but if you are ever in Salem (or near one of their other locations), make sure to try some. You won't be disappointed.












Another highlight was the Salem Witch Museum, where we enjoyed quite the theatrical presentation about the history of the Salem witch trials. I won't spoil it, but one misconception is that the "witches" were burned. They were actually hanged, with one man pressed to death. One interesting fact, people placed in prison were charged for their room and board there. Pretty much, once you were placed there, whether or not you were guilty, you couldn't ever get out... you couldn't pay the debt because you weren't working, and you just fell deeper and deeper into debt until they took away all your property.

I had so much fun with these girls. I have known Kim for ten years, and was even her roommate for a few months after my mission. She is a nurse and helps me learn more about medicine... sometimes by listening in on her conversations with nurse friends, one of whom is Lisa. :) I met Lisa through Kim on a trip to Mexico. The next year we all went to Brazil and Argentina. Lots of good memories with them. It was so fun to be around these girls and feel like I could act as silly as I was ten years ago when we met, and know they wouldn't think I'm crazy. Who can't use a little silliness now and then? Thanks for coming!

Birthday Goodies

I think my sister was inspired by the shoes I bought for myself for my birthday, because she sent me two more pairs of high-heeled shoes in my birthday package. Along with the cute gray dress pictured above and a bunch of other goodies. Everyone here loves the shoes and wants to know if you can buy them some too. :) I'm rather lucky in the fact that my mom and sister have good fashion sense and love to shop. Not that I don't have any fashion sense... I've come a long way in the last fifteen years... but I really have little patience for shopping. They really love it and can spend hours finding the great deals. Many a time I have needed something and just give my sister permission to spend my money. Works great for all involved. Thanks to the fam!

I got so many kind wishes from family and friends, even when I was in another country. One special birthday gift that I have to mention came from my friend Bethany. She didn't want to let this milestone birthday pass off uneventfully... she with the help of her mom, gave me 30 individually-wrapped gifts and even shared her rhyming skills on the tag. It was so unexpected and so sweet and thoughtful. Thanks a bunch, Bethany! I don't know how I would survive work without you.