New Tradition

November was such a fun month. I went to the Bay Area twice that month with only paying for one ticket. How does that work? I had to be in Orlando for work the first week and had a brilliant idea before I bought my ticket. What was the cost difference for flying from SLC > Bay Area > Orlando and back home again. Answer: $5. So off I went. I flew to Oakland and spent the weekend playing with friends, headed to Orlando for work, and then went home again for the total cost of $5 and a weekend rental car. Not too shabby. Oh, and I colored my hair a shade darker than my natural color. Much better. More like me.

All I could hear when I saw this sign was don't go to Oakland

Hotel in Orlando

Once home, I spent some time enjoying the snow, playing with work friends, and listening to Jeff Bezos and my CEO Josh James speaking at the UTC Hall of Fame dinner.

No longer a blonde. My "true" color.

With my parents being gone, I needed to figure out what to do for Thanksgiving and decided to head to California again. I met up with friends the Saturday before the holidays to watch BYU play San Jose State. Awful game. Yes, a year later I still remember that we played horribly. On the bright side, I joined up with my sister and her family in Monterey for a few days before heading to the Sacramento area for Thanksgiving. I had a great time playing cards, being with family, and participating in the family Turkey Trot. My aunt Ann also joined us and I'm glad we got to spend some time with her. I think I need to continue swapping time with siblings for the holidays.

BYU vs. San Jose State

17-mile Drive

17-mile Drive

18th hole at Pebble Beach

Roasting marshmellows at Carmel

Carmel

Took some time but I finally won her over (with my electronics)

Family 5K Turkey Trot

A Day/Week in the Life of Me...

Here is my schedule for the week. Sometimes my life seems glamorous to others and sometimes I agree. :)

• Sunday: Dinner with aunt, bring dinner to friend, girls night/sleepover with a different friend
• Monday: Work until 3:30pm, drive home and pack, drive to Deer Valley for a customer conference (I'm the customer and the other company is paying), dinner in Park City
• Tuesday: Breakfast at Deer Valley, morning session of conference, skiing at Deer Valley, dinner in Park City 
• Wednesday: Breakfast at Deer Valley, morning session of conference, snowmobiling in Park City, dinner in Park City
• Thursday: Drive to work from Park City, work a full day, do laundry
• Friday: Pack again, go to work, leave work at 3pm, drive to airport, fly to Orlando
• Saturday: Play at Universal Florida with my sisters, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew
• Sunday: Church and walk along the Florida coast
• Monday: Magic Kingdom at DisneyWorld
• Tuesday: Early morning flight home, work, then teach class at BYU

Riddikulus

Sometimes I laugh at the things that pop out of my mouth. What I mean to say sounds so normal in my head, but when the words actually are said, they sound so ridiculous. Tonight I was out shopping with my roommate and while contemplating the inevitable purchase that we both knew was coming, these words slipped out: I really can't afford to buy this. I just bought a website today.

No. I didn't buy a website, but I did buy a domain name for a project I'm working on. Yes. I bought the outfit.

Why I Love My Job

Google Hangout with the marketing team

I Know How You Love a Good Adventure

Today, I realized I had the following in my car:

• tarp
• blanket
• jacket
• car emergency kit
• running clothes and shoes
• climbing clothes, shoes, and harness
• temple clothes and pencil skirt

What can I say? Just being prepared for any adventure that comes calling.

Weekend Getaway

Coping Mechanism

What do you do when you get impatient about life? I plan trips. Some of them actually happen while others just disappear like my perfect South Carolina trip I thought about taking in April.

Today I was ready to just get in my car and start driving. But I was at work and knew that would be completely irresponsible. So I planned it for tomorrow. I had the trip all planned for a weekend in California: One day driving. One day playing. One day driving back. Hey, I went to Vegas for a day once. Figured I could pull this one off. And this weekend trip almost happened!

I decided that I'm not a college student any more and I would like to keep my job, so my spontaneous road trip has been altered a bit. I'm going to go to the beach in two weeks and to St. George this weekend. Hopefully a weekend hiking in Zions and a planned trip to the beach will help me with this waiting period. If not, at least I'm out having fun!

Do You Have This Much Fun?

I love my job! What makes it so great is the people I work with. Hilarious. Social. Smart. It makes going to work everyday something to look forward to instead of dread. Here is a look into life with the Domo-ites that started with a tweet I posted last night and took off.

Do you have this much fun with the people you work with?

I am grateful that this is how I feel about life:



I am grateful for a CEO who shares his extra tickets with employees. My nephew and I were able to partake of my CEO's generosity and enjoy a BYU basketball game on the 2nd row. Have I told you that I love my job?


I am grateful for the good friends I was able to see tonight. It has been since March since we saw one another and it was good to catch up tonight. And we made plans to hang out after I get back from my December travels. Love my friends and the positive influence they have on me.

Au Revoir

This morning Robin had an epiphany. First the back story. The Eiffel Tower is surrounded by Africans trying to sell you mini Eiffel Towers. They were annoying and rude. Well, Robin had been thinking all week long what to do for her young women at girls camp next week. This morning she decided she needed mini Eiffel Towers. So she and I quickly went to the Trocadéro to see if any of them were around. It was cold and rainy and we didn't have much hope. We were in luck! After some haggling, Robin had her Eiffel Towers.


Breakfast in Paris
We grabbed some breakfast and headed out the door. We made to the airport, we thought, in plenty of time. Then we saw the line. Wow! It could give Disneyland lines a run for their money. A flight attendant started picking through the line and pulling out those whose flight was going to leave soon. We were one of those. We made it through, ran through the airport, and arrived at our gate only to realize they still weren't going to board for another hour. Apparently you have to be checked in an hour before your flight at Charles de Gaulle. Note to those traveling. So we were able to grab some water and relax before the flight home.

The flight was long but I was able to sleep through some of it. Kathrine left us in Dallas, and Robin and I continued on to Utah. It was so nice to be home. I had an amazing time in Paris! I loved it and hope to go back soon. So much to see, especially the little day trips. Paris you were just what I needed. Thank you for a wonderful time!



Harry Potter in the Paris underground

I Love a Good Adventure

When I asked multiple people their favorite parts of Paris, all responded Vaux-le-Vicomte. What is Vaux-le-Vicomte you ask? The most amazing place you will ever visit. It is situated in the Parisian countryside out of the line of tourists. Louis XIV's finance minister Nicolas Fouquet built it in the 17th century and it became the inspiration for Versailles. Louis XIV commissioned the architect, the landscape architect, and the interior designer to build Versailles. I'll let you read the history and the intrigue behind Fouquet's arrest and life imprisonment.

Getting to Vaux-le-Vicomte took a bit of planning. We had to take the train from Paris to the small town of Melun. Then get a taxi to drive us to the estate. Since we all couldn't fit into one taxi, we decided that a French speaker should be with each car. Kathrine and my parents went in front of us and Robin and I waited for the second one. We waited. And waited. A Frenchman took our first car because he HAD to get to a doctor's appointment. We didn't argue with him. A German was also going to the chateau so we invited him to ride with us so we could split the fare. Our taxi finally arrived and we were off! Literally! The taxi was a Mercedes and he cruised along as fast as he could. It was quite thrilling actually. Speeding along the French countryside.

As you can see from the pictures, Vaux-le-Vicomte is beautiful! Absolutely breathtaking! And the gardens were even more so. I loved it. Plus, did you see all the tourists in the pictures? Me either! I loved having the whole place to ourselves. The house is in the process of being restored so many of the rooms were unfurnished. We were able to walk through the entire house, including the cupola and the kitchen. They interweaved the story of the Man in the Iron Mask through some of the house which was kind of fun.

After our adventure, we headed back to town. We called two taxis to come pick us up. One immediately came and took my parents, Kathrine, and our German counterpart. When ours arrived, some pushy Americans claimed it as their own. We finally had to go back to the visitors booth and have them call us another taxi. Frustrating but I was in France so it didn't matter.

Once back in town, we loaded up on pastries and headed back to Paris. Tonight we tried to eat at the place my friend recommended. This time we showed up an hour early. Giving up, we found a Greek place that was quick and easy. After dinner, we took one more stroll along the Seine and enjoyed watching the boats and other tourists. We decided we still had time for a stroll down the Champs-Elysees. I'm so glad we did! We found a shop selling caramel macarons. Oh. My. Goodness. They were amazing! I would go back to Paris just to have another caramel macaron.

It had been a long day and long week so we headed back to the hotel. After packing up and resting, the girls decided to hit the Trocadéro and enjoy the ambiance of the Eiffel Tower. I am so glad we stayed close to the Eiffel Tower. It really was a great place for a great price. If you are heading to Paris anytime soon, let me know and I'll give you the name of the place. We said one more good-bye and headed back to the hotel for the night.

America is My Country and Paris is My Hometown

Since we had done A LOT of walking the past four days and I knew I had a lot on the agenda, I decided we needed a metro pass for the day. In my desire to be efficient with time and money, I figured out if we rode the metro 8X then it would be worth the day pass. We more than exceded that number.

The day started off in the Montmartre area. The Sacre-Coeur was the first stop. This beautiful cathedral is made of a stone that whitens with age. The inside wasn't as interesting to me as Notre Dame but Sacre-Coeur was finished in the early 1900s. My romantic tendencies thrives on the stories from ages past. We walked around Montmartre hill, visiting sites of painters, writers, and musicians. We stopped by the Moulin Rouge, took a picture, and found the metro again. If you can't tell by my matter-of-fact attitude, it wasn't my most favorite part of the trip. One good thing happened this morning. I discovered macarons. Oh man! A little bite of heaven. Yummy!

Next we headed to the Paris Opera House. We were not going to miss the inside tour today. The theatre was beautiful! My imagination went wild with the story of the Phantom of the Opera. The Chagall ceiling was spectacular. My sense of adventure kicked in while here. I searched for an open door and hoping to get to the ground floor. Found one! We were all taking pictures and enjoying the theatre when we were scolded for entering the orchestra section and informed that we were only allowed to enter two of the box seats. Oh well! The rest of the place was amazing and totally worth coming back to see.

After that we jumped on the metro and headed to the Conciergerie which was part of the former royal palace in medieval times and a prison during the French Revolution. It was quite a sombering thought as we walked through the prison walls, saw the names of the thousands who died, and the former cell of Marie-Antoinette. Rough time in French history.

We walked back near Notre Dame, bought some souvenirs, and then went to the archeological crypt. The crypt was pretty cool. You could see the old Roman foundations and walls. I'm amazed at how much the city had been built up over the years. At this point, I was exhausted. I sank into a chair and fell asleep while the others finished the museum. After that, we walked through the Latin Quarter to Sanite-Sulpice. Now this was an awesome cathedral. Apparently you can go on Sundays to their organ concert and then get a tour of the actual organ. We couldn't do this on Sunday but I plan on doing it the next time I'm in Paris. For those who have seen the movie The Da Vinci Code, part of the movie was filmed here. Luxembourg Gardens were next on the list. I enjoyed seeing locals enjoying a nice afternoon and my feet enjoyed the break as well.

Dinner was quite the adventure tonight. A friend from work recommended a place and I decided to follow his recommendation. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, it was at least an hour wait. None of us were in the mood to wait that long. I was famished! So we walked back to the Latin Quarter to an area we had seen our first day. We found a place that looked good and sat down. The food here was so good! Absolutely my favorite place we ate at in Paris. Loved the food.

One thing I like in cities is the ambiance of night and I wanted a few night shots. Robin and my dad decided to head back to the hotel and sleep while my mom, Kathrine, and I combed the city for some great photo ops. It took forever for night to hit and I rushed us too much at Notre Dame. The pictures didn't turn out that great. However, the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower shots turned out great. I was exhausted by the end of the day. I had nothing left in me. I easily fell asleep tonight.

Let Them Eat Cake

Today was a nice contrast to yesterday. Instead of jumping from place-to-place, we took our time and moseyed along the grounds of the Palace of Versailles. All I can say is...Wow! I completely understand why the people of Paris stormed the Bastille and imprisoned the monarchy and aristocracy. Lavish and extravagant. Definitely over-the-top. I wonder if King Ludwig of Bavaria took his eccentricities from King Louis XIV?

Getting there was very easy. One train transfer and we were on our way. The Palace was only 1/2 mile from the train station. Plus all you had to do was follow the crowd of tourists. A massive restoration project is taking place at the palace right now and someone had a crazy idea to put some modern artwork in front of the palace and along the grounds. It clashed with the Baroque architecture and I avoided it all costs in my pictures.

The palace was packed with tourists. It was hard to get good shots or really linger too long in one place. The "chateau shuffle" kept us moving. The Hall of Mirrors was incredible. But my favorite part, as always, was the grounds. I love gardens! Robin and I decided that we needed to save our poor feet and we rented a golf cart for an hour. My parents, Kathrine, Robin, and I toured most of the grounds in the cart. It was so nice! Easy to see more things. We dropped my parents off at the Grand and Petite Trianon, returned the cart, then walked the mile back to the homes.

The Grand and Petite Trianon were setup for Louis XIV, Louis XVI, and Marie-Antoinette to escape palace life. Considering the gluttony, lewdness, and debauchery going on at the palace, I'm not surprised. Of course, what happened at the Trianon estates wasn't that much better. I loved Marie-Antoinette's peasant hamlet. She set up this peasant farm for the poor and would go out among the locals and "assist" them in their efforts. Basically she put on a common outfit and hat, and handed out instructions. At least she tried. Even with the Revolution, the locals maintained the area and farm. Everything is still intact and the locals continue maintaining the farm.

We decided that all our walking and learning deserved a treat. What better way to relax than with a Nutella smothered waffle while sitting by the Grand Canal. Food. Scenery. Beautiful sky. Europe. Life was good. Only one thing could have made it better. The tour guide book told us to plan about eight hours for the entire trip. We spent ten. It was nice to have a relaxed pace and enjoy the area.

We got back in time to visit Saint-Chapelle, a 13th century chapel and the only surviving building of the Capetian royal palace. The stained glass was beautiful! The pictures don't even begin to capture the simple beauty in the chapel. It was a nice mental cleansing after the opulence of Versailles.

Next we headed to the Arc de Triomphe to re-attempt last night's endeavor. This time we ate at an eatery type restaurant which gave us plenty of time to make it to the top the Arc. We really had great timing, making it up before the sun set. We enjoyed the panoramic view, then sat around telling stories until darkness fell. Have I ever told you I love the ambiance of night? I find something magical about the night lights illuminating the city. Once again we were able to capture beautiful shots of the Eiffel Tower and the city of Paris.

A 3-Hour Tour

I loved and hated today. Loved it because I saw so many fascinating things and did everything I could do to take it all in. Hated it because by the end of the day I was exhausted physically, mentally, and emotionally. In trying to see and do everything, I overwhelmed all my sensory functions. ADD me was on overload. And yet...I WAS still in Paris!

Today started with taking the bus into Paris instead of the metro. You miss so much traveling underground and we decided a bus would give us the more scenic route. The parents stepped off at Napoleon's Tomb and the French War Museum while Kathrine, Robin, and I headed to the Musée d'Orsay. My parents had already been to the Orsay and I knew my dad would enjoy a few more hours at the war museum.

The Orsay was incredible! All my favorite Impressionist painters have works housed in the Orsay. My parents have a few Monet and Renoir posters of paintings in their house. I finally got to see the originals! We spent a couple of hours in the museum and I really enjoyed it. I also saw two other paintings that touched me. The first is familiar to some of you. It is the apostles Peter and John running to the empty tomb. The other was titled "The Dream" and captured not just what I felt war was like for soldiers but had a sense of the physical and spiritual wars we fight today. This painting filled one wall and I just stared at it, captivated. I don't have any pictures from the museum because photography wasn't allowed. But of all the museums in Paris, this one had the most comprehensive collection of my favorite pieces.

Next we walked to the Hotel Invalides which housed Napoleon's Tomb and the French War Museum. We met up with my parents and gave ourselves two hours. Not even enough time! With so many things written in French it was hard to grasp everything that was being said. Only a few things were translated into English. However, I loved it! The French perspective of WWI and WWII was enlightening. Amazing how different countries have a different take. I've now been to war museums in the US, London, and Paris and have a better understanding of why each country was fighting.

After this, we walked to the Rodin Museum which, gratefully, was just across the street. We grabbed a bite to eat at the cafe before touring the grounds. To be honest, I was spent by this time. Sensory and learning overload. I enjoyed the house and the grounds but spent most of my time relaxing on the steps. As much as I enjoy art and culture, my brain was exhausted. It needed a break. You can see in the pictures that I'm not my chipper self.

We decided to end the day with the Paris Opera House. We made it there just a few minutes too late. They shut the doors right before we could get in. Oh well. Before heading back to the hotel, we girls decided we wanted to take a trip to a shopping center to buy some French treats. My parents went to the hotel and rested and the rest of us took a trip to the new business section of Paris. We bought a few things and I bought a hairdryer. I was so tired of going to Europe and trying to make the wattage and voltage conversion. It just wasn't working and the hairdryer in our hotel room was lame. It definitely was worth the purchase. I was able to straighten my hair so I didn't feel dorky and everyone else was able to borrow it too. Plus I plan on going back to Europe again which makes the purchase complete justified.

Our trip back was quite the adventure. For some reason our metro tickets weren't working and the credit card machine was down. It was rush hour. Lines were long. And we were tired. We finally were able to buy tickets and get back to the hotel. Kind of a pain and I was so tired by this time. We planned on eating at a place near the Arc de Triomphe and heading up to the top of the Arc after dinner, but once again things didn't go according to plan.

The place we ate at had amazing food. Absolutely delicious! But, the service was incredibly slow. More than French slow. Even the French patrons were annoyed. It was awful. And I got ornery. Very ornery. We finally got the check but by this time we had missed the last entry up the Arc. I was irritated and I just needed to blow off steam. Thankfully my parents recognized this. My mom went back to the hotel with Robin and Kathrine and my dad stayed with me. We walked around the Arc and took pictures while I ranted about my frustrations. It was actually very helpful. I really wasn't mad at anyone, but I was so worn out and I wasn't running (my stress relief) that everything finally exploded. My dad let me vent. Didn't try to fix anything. Just listened. After about 30 minutes or so I was ready to go back to the hotel. It really was a great day. I just needed some sleep.

Something to add here. The timing of my trip was very inconvenient with work. We were a week out from our company launch. I told my boss I would check my email every night to help alleviate any kinks in the programs I setup before leaving. The night before we had a bit of a catastrophe. I was able to help solve the problem, and then my boss told me to get off my email, stop worrying about work, and enjoy my trip. Another reason I enjoy my job.

Happy 4th of July

My one concern about Paris was missing 4th of July. This is my second favorite holiday. The first being Christmas. So when I planned today, I tried to make sure we did quintessential Parisian things so I wouldn't miss all that was going on in the States. In spite of missing one of my favorite holidays, today was a total blast!

I also realized I booked us really tight. You'll understand after you hear everything we did today. I also want to point out something you will see in all the pictures. Everyone else is usually dressed in long pants and jackets. I, one the other hand, am usually wearing shorts and no jacket. I definitely had a much higher tolerance for the nice 65-75 degree weather. Perfection in my book!

First stop today was the Eiffel Tower. We didn't spend too much time in line and made it to the top rather quickly. Robin decided to stay behind on the second platform while the rest of us traveled to the top. The elevator up freaked me out. A bit petrified. However, once at the top, I had no problem. The view was amazing! Paris stretched for miles in front of me and I loved every minute of it.

After the Eiffel Tower we took the metro and headed to the Palace de la Concorde. Interesting history tidbit: During the French Revolution, the guillotine stood here. Prisoners were taken from La Conciergerie and transported here. The plaza now houses an obelisk from the Luxor. We weren't able to get too close because barricades were set up in preparation for Bastille Day celebrations. We stopped for a bite to eat for lunch, eating in the Tuileries Garden, before heading to Musée de l'Orangerie or what I called The Orange Museum. :)

Musée de l'Orangerie is home to eight Monet water lily paintings. They lined the walls and were beautiful! I loved being able to see the different brush strokes and the layers of paint. Incredible! The museum also had Cézanne, Picasso, Rousseau, and my favorite, Renoir. I loved the simplicity of the museum. Plus I enjoyed artwork I had only seen in books.

Next on the list was the Louvre. Because you can spend hours upon hours in the Louvre, I scheduled us for three to see the highlights. It really was enough time for one day. Once again, I saw sculptures, paintings, and artifacts that I had only read about in books. You probably can't guess my favorite part. It was all that wasn't on display. The Louvre was the palace to the royal family. In some rooms the ceilings were covered with a mesh but if you looked closely you could see the former grandeur of the palace. The Napoleon III apartments were still intact but the rooms from before the Revolution were stripped of the history they had witnessed. I included a picture that shows one of the ceilings that wasn't covered. Truly an incredible museum. One problem was the crowd of people. Oh well. Guess that is what happens when you go in July.

After the Louvre closed, we headed over to Rue Cler which is near the Eiffel Tower and enjoyed a relaxing dinner. The place we ate at wasn't my favorite from the week but the dessert there was divine! Definitely my favorite from the entire trip.

I was exhausted at this point. Yes we are only at dinner with hours of daylight still left. We took a casual stroll back to the Eiffel Tower and then headed to our river boat cruise. After walking all day long, it was so nice to sit. To enjoy Paris at dusk with all the lights coming on. Yes. I'm a sucker for ambiance. After the cruise was finished, we enjoyed the Eiffel Tower lights before heading home. Isn't Paris beautiful at night?

My European Adventure

"Paris is always a good idea." When my parents suggested I meet up with them in Paris for a week during the summer, I threw caution to the wind and bought my ticket. This all happened while I was at the job I disliked and before I was offered my current job. Planning our Paris trip was just the distraction I needed.

The night before we left was crazy. I was still training for a 1/2 marathon and needed to do laundry. I figured I could run routes around my place and change laundry during each water break. At about 12:30am I was ready to go and drove over to my friend Robin's place. We both slept about an hour or two before packing up and driving to the airport. Our early morning flight helped us both with jet lag. We slept from SLC to Dallas where we added my sister Kathrine to our adventure. I slept most of the way from Dallas to Boston and most of the way from Boston to Paris. This made the trip over more pleasant than I anticipated.

We arrived as the sun was coming up and shining over the Parisian countryside. Beautiful! I have a thing for Europe. Something about it touches my heart. Maybe it is the history nerd in me and I understand all that the people have suffered. Maybe it is the kinship I feel to my ancestors. Maybe it is just far enough away from my problems that I can escape for a while. I greatly needed this escape. I needed to figure some things out in my head and Paris is just what I needed to do that.

The airport actually provided the first adventure. A package was left unattended and we were stuck behind customs for almost an hour before everything was cleared. We made it through customs, changed into our church clothes, and grabbed the train into Paris. When we arrived we went straight to church. It was such a great experience to arrive at what appeared to be a former aristocratic home that had been turned into an LDS meetinghouse. They had 3 different sunday schools and sacrament meetings: French, English, and Mandarin. We missed Relief Society due to the bomb scare at the airport. My parents arrived during sacrament meeting and our group was now complete.

After church, we checked into our hotel which was nestled between the Arc de Triomphe and the Effiel Tower then headed out again. We walked up to the Arc de Triomphe to grab the metro, then headed to the Latin Quarter and the Ile de la Cité (city center). We headed to Notre Dame around 5:00 to hear the organ concert. After hearing the organ concert at Westminster Abbey in London, I made sure we heard the concert at Notre Dame. It was incredible! First, organs were meant to be played in cathedrals. Second, the organist was incredibly talented. After the concert, we walked around Notre Dame and ate dinner.

When it was time to head home, Robin and I looked at a map and came up with a crazy idea. We figured it was only a few miles to the Eiffel Tower and we should walk home along the Seine. Very crazy idea. We definitely underestimated the distance. On a bright spot, we had a great time seeing Paris this way and had an amazing view of the Eiffel Tower.

I'm going to highlight each day this way: short recap and slideshow. The recap is more for me and my journal. The pictures are for you to enjoy.

Having a Good Time

'nuff said.

Living Life Backwards

I am grateful for Elder Neil L. Andersen's recent General Conference talk. In contemplating my life from high school to now, I recognize that nothing has gone as planned. More specifically, I am not married with four kids and two more still yet to come. Instead, I have two graduate degrees with a promising career ahead of me. Elder Andersen helped me see that even though my original plan has not happened, it doesn't mean that it is out of reach. Patient persistent in waiting upon the Lord (thank-you Elder Hales) and promised blessings will be fulfilled. I'm just living life backwards. :)

In having this realization, I thought back to Elder Uchtdorf's message to the Relief Society sisters. Even though I don't have children now, I still have the opportunity to influence many people for good including my nieces and nephews. I have been working on memorizing the seminary scripture mastery scriptures with my nieces and nephews. I love watching my seven-year-old nephew use the iPad app to memorize the scriptures and then pass it off with me. Obviously, I'm learning them at a faster rate, but it thrills me that we are doing it together. And that I can be that encouragement and example for them.

Another area I'm trying to be an influence for good is with music. They've already been indoctrinated to the Broadway/Musical genre but classical music is still a work in progress. Since I have always wanted to hear the 1812 Overture at the Deer Valley Music Festival (Yes. Always. At least since I was in junior high. Yes. I'm a music nerd.), I decided to take my oldest nieces to the final night of the festival. We stopped at the outlets first and I introduced Rachel to Banana Republic jeans. I don't know if her mom will ever forgive me for that one. Then we headed up to Deer Valley.
The nice thing about the outdoor venue at Deer Valley was the outdoor atmosphere helped the girls feel comfortable, we were able to bring a picnic in with us, and we were surrounded by the beautiful Utah mountains. The music selection was perfect! The girls recognized everything that was played. And the finale...Wow! Live cannons synched perfectly with the 1812 Overture. The girls grinned from ear to ear every time they cannons went off. And I absolutely loved it! Worth the wait! Afterwards, Josie said to me, "I thought it was going to be boring but I actually had fun." I turned to her, smiled, and told her never doubt me when I tell her we are going on an adventure. Good times had by all!

Here are a few pictures of us enjoying ourselves during the intermission.



So even though life hasn't gone exactly they way I planned, it's okay. The Lord has a plan for me and I know if I just continue pressing forward with faith, all will be revealed and promises will be fulfilled. How grateful I am for my testimony in the gospel of Jesus Christ and the sustaining power of personal revelation.

Having a Bit of Fun

Last June when I was babysitting my nieces and nephews, I decided we needed a break from the house. I packed them into the car and headed up the canyon not really having a plan. I found a backroad near Sundance and began driving just to see where we would end up. We found a perfect spot at the base of Stewart Falls. Even from the distance, we could see how powerful the waterfall was and this was in June! After we explored a bit there, we headed up towards Aspen Grove. We played around on the Timp Hike trail and Aspen Grove before heading down and calling it a night.

The next day, I was driving with my two nieces as we ran errands for their mom. The oldest found my camera and started having some fun taking pictures of herself, her sister, and me. I love to attribute their silliness and craziness to their parents, but I always seem to be around when things like this happen. Hopefully I've been a good influence on them. :)

 

Broadway's Best

A few months ago I mentioned that I was able to see Brian Stokes Mitchell and Linda Eder in concert. Well my childhood Broadway idols just kept coming. Two weeks later I saw Idina Menzel (of Wicked fame) at the Deer Vally Music Festival. Her chattiness and flighty demeanor actually made her that more endearing to the audience. Of course she sang songs from Wicked and it was even better live!

Then, Lea Salogna (Jasmine, Mulan, Miss Saigon, and Les Miserables) came to BYU. I felt like a little kid in a candy store. I just sat there with a giddy smile as her voice resonated in the DeJong Concert hall. She was personable and down to earth. And "On My Own' was phenomenal! I walked away from the Lea Salogna concert with a "once-in-a-lifetime" feeling. Absolutely wonderful!

When I was telling my mom about all the Broadway singers I had seen the past two months in Utah, she reminded me of a story that my seminary teacher once told her. When I was in high school, our seminary had a dating week in February. We filled out a survey that gauged our interests, personality, etc., etc. I went up to my teacher and told him that my favorite music type wasn't listed. All the typical genres were listed but mine was missing. He stared at me incredulously then asked, "What is your favorite music?" "Musicals." He looked at me. Looked at the paper. Then said, "You're right. It isn't listed." He was surprised by my answer but when he related the story to my mom, she wasn't. She knew that I would listen to different musicals while cleaning the house, working in the yard, and driving to piano lessons (a three hour round trip drive). She knew that my sister and I would sing-along to the symphonic version of Les Miserables and even try to sing every part in One Day More. She knew that one Christmas she searched the country (this was before the Internet was helpful) for a copy of The Sound of Music as a surprise for me. She knew.

Now do you understand how seeing Linda Eder, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Idina Menzel, and Lea Salogna made me feel like a kid again? One day I'll make it to Broadyway, but until then, I'm content with all the Broadway opportunities I've had in Utah.

Admit it. You had fun clicking on all those links. :)