Life As I Know It

Happy birthday, Blog

2011-12-22T17:51:00.000-07:00

I was just sitting here during my lunch break thinking and decided to look up my first blog post. I realized I started this blog 4 years and 2 days ago. Lots has happened since then, but 4 years worth of stuff? Hard to believe.

I started the blog as I was preparing to leave for a sememster in Jerusalem. It's fun to reread and remember what I was doing and feeling at the time. I had no idea what it would be like, but I know it would be important and change me. As I describe the feeling in my second post, "It's almost like knowing you are about to win the lottery, but instead of cash you're getting Life."

"Life as I know it" certainly changed a lot since then. I don't think I've ever told wrote about where my blog's name came from. It's from a line in the movie P.S I Love You. At the end of the movie the main character is reading a letter from her husband written before he died of an illness some time before (I'm not spoiling anything; this is entire premis of the plot and the first thing any summary of the movie will tell you).

After encouraging her to move on with life without him, he tells her:

"Watch out for that signal, when life as you know it ends."

That line resonated with me, especially as I was at that very time face to face with one of those signals telling me this incredible and rare opportunity was ending life as I knew it. That kind of ending though isn't a termination. It's a transformation. We still exist, but how we exist changes, "normal" changes, life as we know it is different than it used to be. Just think about that. Isn't that a thrilling to think about? How so much can hinge on one choice? I think so.

I've tried to make this little blog a chronical of those "signals" of when life as I know it ends, and what happens because of them. If you've been here from the start you've followed me to Israel, to Utah, through college, to graduation, to Denver, to Europe, and to wherever else I set my mind to go and do. Thanks for indulging me over the years. May you take notice of the signals that change your life as you know it.

Guess what I found?

2011-12-14T13:16:00.000-07:00

odds and ends

2011-11-16T12:57:00.000-07:00

I don't like reading blogs with a lot of text. If you don't either, stop reading now and I won't feel bad. There are a few people that will read what I write no matter what. This is for them.

I still haven't found my camera and I'm really sad about it. And confused, frankly. I only keep it in maybe 3 places and it isn't in any of those places it should be. Or the places it shouldn't be. I've looked. Hence more writing, less pictures. And by less I mean none.

I've been sick for a few weeks, but only I-feel-crummy-and-tired-and-don't-feel-like-doing-anything-but-I-can-still-go-to-work-and-get-the-job-done-sick. It's not a fun kind of sick to be because people don't always take you seriously if you aren't throwing up. And it's the kind of sick you feel bad complaining about because you know there are all those people with cancer, pregnancy, or some other serious physical condition that probably feel way worse than you do and they endure it like champs. I promise I really have a bug, but it'll pass and I may be on the upswing even now. I'm in my 3rd day of feeling normal-ish (!!!). That will make my roommate happy. She claims she gets unusually crafty when I'm not up and around and its wearing her out. But the house looks lovely with all the new wall hangings. Someone else will also be very happy when I am well so we can get back to more interesting activities than watching me grumpily lie on a couch after work.

Halloween was fun. Or rather, the weekend before Halloween. We dressed up as Jessie and Woody from Toy Story for a regional YSA dance and dang, we looked good. Actual Halloween? I spent the evening lying on a couch with a migraine while he did homework. Party animals.

My little brother Scott received his assignment to serve as a missionary for our Church for 2 years. He is heading to the New Hampshire Manchester mission. He reports to the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, on December 7. Yay for missionaries!

My high school alma mater had a stellar cross country season this fall. The boys' team placed 1st at the 5A Idaho State Cross Country Championships for the first time ever! Then the girls' team placed 2nd, edged out of 1st place by a mere 4 points, which is a heartbreakingly-slim margin, believe me. Word is the girls team has no seniors and only one junior, so it looks like the team will stay strong for the next few years and likely win it all next year. The last time girls won 1st at state was my senior season (and very last xc race, awesomely) in 2004. Go Vikings!

Déja vu. Or, My Life is Awesome Twice.

2011-10-24T14:11:00.000-06:00

Remember when I won free tickets to a KT Tunstall concert last year?

It happened again! Booyah! I entered another drawing for free tickets from the same company I got tickets from before and won again! I'm starting to think nobody else is entering these drawings. Maybe I should enter for all their ticket giveaways. This time the tickets were for the David Cook and Gavin DeGraw concert last Saturday. I wouldn't have purchased tickets to the show, but I certainly was interested in seeing them for free.

This guy was at work, so my roommate came with me. I took pictures but I lost my camera again so I don't have the visuals to prove it.

Seriously a great show. Carolina Liar was the opening act, then David came out, then Gavin (like how I talk about them like we're old pals?). All the artists were outstanding performers, the kind of performers that look like they are having a blast the whole time. Espcially Gavin. He gyrated so much I was starting to think he had some kind of tic.

The lead singer from One Republic is a Colorado local and made a cameo at the show because he helped write Gavin's new single. I literally ran into him by the merch counter between sets, but I didn't know who he was besides a guy who didn't look where he was going. My roommate almost died when she found out and tried to convince me to never shower again.

I recommend both David and Gavin's music. David is more rock than pop, and Gavin is more pop than rock. But both produce strong, well-executed, catchy, relatable music. Give them a listen. I recommend checking out their new singles here and here.

Fall[ing]

2011-10-04T17:06:00.000-06:00

Well, howdy fall! It's like Colorado knew when September started because *BAM*, 50 degrees and rain. But true to form, it has since forgot and all week it has been 80 degrees+ though mornings are a little colder than they used to be. I get kind of restless on chilly mornings because I feel like I should be running a cross country race. My body still gets all anxious and ready for it. Unfortunately, running has sort of faded away for the last little while. First, because my running buddy is back in nursing school and thus forfeited her life until December, and second, because I've been doing other fun things instead like

(click on any picture to view it full size)

slacklining,

longboarding/rollerblading,

window shopping at IKEA,

making pizza,

watching pee wee football,

and appreciating nature

...with this guy.

East, West, Home's Best

2011-09-02T13:35:00.000-06:00

Two posts in a week? Gasp! Yes, it's true. Now that the most stressful nine weeks of my life are behind me (complete with 10 min lunches, going home "early" meant going home an hour late, poor posture, scrambled brain, tears, and a few outbursts at the futility of it all) I'm coming back to life and happy to be here. My workload is back to managable levels, and I got to run away from it all and take a trip home to Idaho!

Yay!

I don't make it there very often these days. I think I've spent a collective 12 days in Coeur d'Alene in the last year and a half and most of that time was during the winter. August is definitely the time to visit the great Inland Northwest. Perfect weather, warm water, and still green green green everywhere.

And then, of course, the North Idaho Fair and Rodeo! Yep, I made it back to help out at the Elephant Ear Booth this year. Our family worker roster was a bit lean this year, so I went home to help out. I had a blast. I went boating twice, worked at the fair everyday with a mass of relatives whom I love, went running and hung out with my dad at Tubbs Hill, played my harp, met my newborn nephew, hung out with friends at the fair, went to my brother's cross country meet. I think it was so good because it was the most engaged I've been in being home and taking advantage of all the, well, advantages.

Photo collage of the trip, because it's a lot easier than uploading pictures individually. And it takes less time to load. And you probably wouldn't care to look at each picture individually anyway unless you're my stalker. Or bored. Or my dad.

Click on collage to see it larger.

The Summer of Firsts

2011-08-30T13:40:00.000-06:00

This summer has been full of all sorts of "firsts" for me. I love firsts. I like the excitement and anticipation of something new about to happen but not knowing exactly what to expect, and the surprise when it goes beyond anything I could imagine up. Keeps life thrilling.

A chronical of selected summer 2011 "firsts":

First time wakeboarding (and set a record getting up on my 3rd try!)

First time visiting the CO mountains (as opposed to driving through)

First visitor

First place in the ice cream sculpting contest!

First time wake skating (Got up on first and EVERY try! I'm going pro.)

First visit with this little guy

First time finishing an entire game of Monopoly... and winning!

Jackie Came to Play

2011-07-26T13:02:00.002-06:00

My former roommate Jackie came to visit me last month. We lived together our last year at BYU. I actually wrote this post a while ago, but delayed publishing because I wanted to include pictures. Sadly, my camera went MIA a week ago and I still haven't downloaded the pictures. For the sake of talking about his while it's still relevant, here is the post minus the pictures. She put pictures on her blog though, so if you're curious to see what the following looked like wander on over there.

****UPDATE 8-9-2011: The camera is found! Accompanying pictures now posted below.********

The weekend started with an uneventful ride home from the airport (which is notable because with CO's weather, it can be very eventful) followed by pizza and a good ol' late-night conversation in the kitchen like old times.

Saturday morning we went up to Red Rocks to hike. The area is most known for it's concert venue, but the amphitheater is actually part of a large natural park. We walked around the amphitheatre for fun and watched crazy people exercising all over. Then we hiked a short-ish trail below it. No lemonade stands this time, but still legit and only about 2,000 ft lower in elevation.

After an afternoon nap and a delicious lunch of pesto pasta (where Jackie is, so is good food), we did accounting/concocted enchiladas in preparation for dinner. Jackie did the former. Jared and I did the latter. Some friends from church organized a picnic-style group date, which is what the food was for. We attended said date with dates. Good times were had by all.

Sunday we attended church in purposely match-y outfits, ate more delicious food at a birthday dinner for a friend, took another nap (Jackie lives at sea level, so we blame the elevation for all the naps), and had more excellent conversation per our style.

Monday I had to work, but I worked just a 1/2 day and Jackie came along. She had work to do too even though she was on vacation because accountants are cool like that. We did our business simultaneously then spent the rest of the afternoon around downtown Denver. We ate at the SAME Cafe, perused books at the Tattered Cover, sunbathed on benches, played tunes on a piano, checked out the City Library (pun intended), chowed down at Mad Greens, and wound it all up with a visit to the Denver Temple.

The fun didn't end there. After we went back to the house we couldn't decided between making focaccia or ciabatta bread, so we made both and watched Despicable Me for the first time.

Thanks for the visit, Jackie! You're the best!

I don't feel bad about any of this

2011-07-13T17:20:00.000-06:00

I've never read Harry Potter
I've never seen Titanic
I've never read Twilight
I've never seen Avatar
The soundtrack to Wicked is annoying
I hate it when people use lol, rofl, lmao, ur, and most other text shorthand
I want to run over jaywalkers every time they walk out in front of me. Every time.
I don't think Brad Pitt is attractive
Sometimes I eat ice cream for meals
I don't like seafood
I hate playing volleyball
I hate playing Capture the Flag
I ignore all calls and texts between bedtime and 9am
Video games are a big fat waste of time
Johnny Depp ruined Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Token injury post

2011-06-29T11:37:00.000-06:00

This post is a bit delayed and outdated, but whatev. I smashed my thumb at work about two weeks ago. The exterior bar of the office door sometimes detaches on the right side when I pull to shut the door, causing the bar to fall and swing from the side still attached. That day I needed to make a quick trip to the restroom before I went downtown to take care of some of my daily duties. Instead of using my key to shut the office door behind me like a smart person, I just pulled it shut like the lazy woman I am. Disastrous results.

Some of the flesh pinched off and seeped blood, but I could feel the inevitable swelling become the bigger problem. I continued to the restroom (when you gotta go, you gotta go) and then stayed to run my phalange under the cold running water while I thought of my next move. I finally went over to the coffee shop next door to ask for ice. As the guy handed me some, he said "That looks really bad." Yeah, thanks.

It swelled so much I couldn't bend it because the skin stetched too tight. It doesn't look too bad in this picture. I'd been icing it a while and the swelling had reduced a lot. I ended up with bruising on the back of the thumb all the way down to the base of the finger. The bar hit just above the knuckle and below the nailbed, so the nail thankfully did not turn black though one little part has discoloring. I hope it doesn't grow in weird later.

I contrived this to keep my thumb under ice to free up my other hand and fingers to get work done.

It worked pretty well, actually.

It was either this or I had no use of either hand as I held ice against the thumb.

Couple things I've observed after the incident:

1. Not having the use of one opposable thumb made me feel half-prosimian (primates without an opposable thumb, like the lemur). I can report from empirical knowledge that the opposable thumb is indeed an evolutionary advantage making grasping, typing, and answering a phone vastly easier.

2. Depsite the convienience of opposability, a primate may still function without it. It was interesting to observe how my other fingers took on the work of my thumb, especially when typing.

My thumb is almost fully recovered now. It was touch-and-go a couple of days, but I was able to save the whole hand (name that movie!). I've accidently bumped the thumb a few times and that makes it hurt like the dickens all over again. It's still a bit bruised and I have a bump of calcium deposit at the point of impact, but it could be worse and overall I'm pleased with my body's ability to heal itself.

The love of my life!

2011-06-10T21:47:00.002-06:00

Today is our anniversary. I'm SO blessed to be sharing life's journey with you! Loves!

Together since June 10, 2005 <3

To commemorate this day, here are a few pictures from over the years....

Roadtrip! I'm, uh, checking my voicemail, Mom...

Visiting Danny!

Same roadtrip, but now I'm in the backseat!

My trusty Taiwan fishy!

Aerial shot! Can you see her?!

Remember how the windshield used to be cracked?!!

Ooo, shiny!

Today is also the anniversary of my high school graduation, as well as THE day of my younger brother Scott's graduation. It's kind of trippy, because I remember when he was born.

(In case you didn't pick up on my ironic overuse of exclamation points, I'm not actually obsessed with my car.)

Idiot Encounters

2011-06-01T17:48:00.000-06:00

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like I've dealt with more idiots than normal today and it inspired me to vent to this listening ear I call a blog.

Much of my job involves customer service, and I'm pretty good at it if I can trust my customer's candid and unsolicited positive feedback. But some people sure try my patience.

The following situations describe most of the idiot encounters at my job. I attribute my positive service record to only thinking the following responses instead of saying them. (Actually, I do say them, to myself. It helps, a little.)

Some context: my office is in a parking garage. Like, literally inside the garage, in a little enclosed room. I am not an attendant; I just happen to work by entry/exit gates which are fully automated and get a front row seat to the idiocy and sometimes get called upon to save people from themselves.

Situation #1:

Customer forgest to pay for monthly parking and uses the excuse "Life's been crazy".

What I don't say (but really want to):

And... how is that relevant to the situation? "Crazy life" is not an excuse. It is the human condition. It will never change, so plan for it and pay on time like everyone else. (The only person I authorized to use this excuse was the girl who missed a payment because she fell on glass and severed two tendons and an artery in her wrist. Now THAT's an excuse.)

Situation #2:

Customer tells me he lost his parking ticket. I tell him to push the lost ticket button on his way out and pay the daily max ($12). He says he was only parked for 10 minutes.

What I don't say (but really want to):

Wow, then that means you are REALLY dumb for losing your little ticket in only 10 minutes, huh? You shall be properly punished when you pay to leave.

Situation #3:

Monthly parker gets card turned off for non-payment and get's irritated that "it's only the 10th", like I'm asking for his money way before it's due.

What I don't say (but really want to):

Well, sir, payment was due on the 1st. It has always been due on the 1st. And it will always be due on the 1st. You got your invoice on the 20th of last month. I gave you 10 day grace period. That means you have had 21 days to pay. You work for a bank, have a personal assistant, drive a Jaguar, and you're apparently an idiot. I fear for your clients. Now pay for your parking and leave me alone.

Situation #4:

People drive cars into the concrete partition.

I don't have to say anything. These idiots never complain to me because figure out they're idiots on their own.

Of course, there are more idiot types than those listed above. There are a lot of people who don't look at the signs showing them how to insert their tickets and credit cards properly (they always look sheepish when I come turn the card over).

Plenty who only carry an old credit card with barely any mag strip left and act annoyed when the card doesn't work.

Those who don't read signs and enter after 4pm (when the rate is a flat $4) who think they're being overcharged when they only stay an hour and so try to get out free. (It never works, btw).

A few who don't wait for the gate to lift before plowing into it. (This is a primary reason we got security cameras.)

And then, like today, there are the people (TWO within seconds of each other this afternoon) who don't pay attention to the clearance height restriction and knock down the clearance bar-- and then act annoyed that it did damage to their cargo tub on top of the vehicle. My reply for that: Nobody made you park here. Actually, we'd rather you didn't park here which is why we put up a sign. Now go away, please.

Glad to get that off my chest. I feel better already. It's amazing what a few italics can do for the soul.

Anyone got a good idiot enounter to share with the class?

I'm gonna run like I mean it

2011-05-18T13:27:00.000-06:00

I've never solicited for something like this, but I will now because it involves two things dear to my heart.

I recently decided to take part in a 5K this weekend. The Gift of Breath and Life is a community run/walk started in 2008 by an LDS Denver family to raise money for lung cancer research after the father passed away from the disease in 2007. It will take place on the UC Anschutz Medical Campus Saturday morning. The run is technically free, but they ask for donations to support an endowment that funds research looking for a reliable test to detect lung cancer in its early stages and improve mortality.

First, I want to do this race because I like to run. I ran public school cross country from first grade through high school graduation. I haven't run much since high school. I took the opportunity in college to discover new activities, but recently I've returned to the comfort of running like an old friend. My friend Shelly is my running partner and motivation. She's running this weekend as well.

Second and more significantly, I want to do this race because I support its cause. My Grandma Lee passed away from a combination of lung cancer and congestive heart failure when I was in high school. She was first diagnosed with lung cancer when I was elementary school. Surgery appeared to cut out all infected tissue and gave her 10 more years of life. The second time around, the cancer stayed for keeps. I miss Grandma a lot. If early detection back then could have kept her around a little longer, I would have been grateful for those who made it happen.

Each participant this weekend can submit a fundraising goal, and I set mine to the amount I plan to donate myself. But if you find it in your heart to contribute as well, GO HERE to make a difference. I like to think whatever I can give will help keep someone else's grandma/pa around a little longer, or keep someone around so they can become a grandparent.

Customer Satisfaction

2011-05-16T14:33:00.000-06:00

I have a happy story.

One of our parking locations is full to capacity, so I only add new parkers from a waiting list when others cancel. One woman had the foresight to call and get on the waiting list 2 months in advance of when she'd actually need to park. She'd call peridically to see where she was on the list. I told her she had a good chance of getting a parking pass by the time it was needed, but I guess she was still super stressed out about it.

Earlier this month when she called I told her she could park by the end of the month. She was immediately ecstatic and gushed about how awesome I am. I was surprised at her outpouring of emotion -- after all, I didn't do anything in particular to make it happen except my job-- but she was so relieved that I couldn't help but feel good that I made somebody's day a little easier. Sometimes I get an excited person who is relieved she can stop paying for daily parking, but I've never had anyone like this woman. She told me how grateful she was, and that I sound so nice and friendly and professional on the phone, and that she was excited-- excited, mind you-- to finally meet me in person. Talk about flattery! I almost suspected sarcasm but her tone was all sincerity.

She came in today to deliver her application and finish the set-up process. To my surprise, she also delivered these:

Nothing says customer satisfaction quite like a pelargonium x hortorum and puppies.

No, Rhonda, it's people like YOU that make this world a better place. Thanks for saying thanks.

Typography

2011-05-09T13:03:00.000-06:00

If you are a semi-frequent reader you should have noticed things look different again. I decided the dark theme felt too much like cold weather and cave dwelling. In honor of 80 degrees Fahrenheit yesterday, I made some changes.

I think typography is fascinating. Color, font, arrangement, justification (as in right, left, centered), and text size can completely change what you think about written word. Just changing the colors and fonts on this blog make the voice in my head sound differently when I re-read posts. The attitude of the site is different, but hopefully not unfamiliar. How does it feel to you? Does it still sound like me talking?

Blogger has pre-designed blog templates one can apply by default, but I don't love any of them so I always take the one that has the layout I like the most then changed everything. I compose every element of this page to properly reflect how I want my writing to feel to the reader. Because audible non-verbal communication is zilch and I mostly despise emoticons, I convey expression through color, font, arrangement, size, layout to control how my writing will "sound" to the reader. After changing the colors, I realized I also needed to change the font. After changing the font, I had to change some page elements. All to preserve semblance of my personal identity in the design.

I'm not practicing some kind of Zen writing philosophy. Typography is a big deal and has been since Gutenberg. Every professionally generated form of print takes into consideration not just the content of the writing, but what it looks like. What the letters and words and lines look like on the page, independent of the meaning, can and will affect readers' response to the content.

Do you ever read cute-sy blogs that have bold, curly font and loud colors and frilly pictures? I do... sometimes. Only when I really really want to see pictures of the blogger's new baby. Truthfully, those blogs get significantly less time devoted (I end up quickly skimming dutifully as my eyes are dazzled with annoying typeface) than blogs with clean lines and clarity of look. It's literally easier for me to read the latter kind than the former, even if I am initially more interested in the content of the first blog. Moral of the story: if you produce written word that you want people to read, make it easy on the eyes. Make it fun to look at and not just read.

Let me know how you feel about the changes and if you have any recommendations to improve upon my current design.

Podcasts

2011-04-27T13:23:00.000-06:00

I spend a lot of time alone every day, especially in my car as I commute to and from work and driving around town during the workday getting stuff done. Spending that much time in a vehicle gets boring and I get really tired of the radio. Enter my saving grace: the podcast! As quoted by our good friend Wikipedia, a podcast (for those of you who only use the internet for rereading junk email, checking Facebook, and looking at this blog) "is a digital audio or video file that is episodic; downloadable; program-driven, mainly with a host and/or theme; and convenient, usually via an automated feed with computer software."

I download podcasts to my iTunes then put them on my iPod to listen to through my speakers at work or home or in the car. I now get profoundly sad when I don't update my iPod and am doomed to listen to music or NPR's All Things Considered on my way home from work. Not that ATC is a bad show. I've learned more about Middle Eastern politics than I ever wanted to know, but they seem to only talk about ME politics and that can get boring.

The following are my favorite podcasts:

TAL is a weekly radio show (and now triple-Emmy-winning television series on Current TV) hosted by Ira Glass where they typically choose a theme then tell stories on the theme. Sometimes a story is so engrossing they do the whole show on one story, but it's rare. The show isn't just about telling a good story though. Each hour-long show seeks to reveal something about the theme, something deeper and provoking about our American life and culture. Since that kind of activity is what I've been trained to do in virtually every anthropology class I've ever taken, I am understandably in love.

The show hires a couple of interns a year and before I got the job in Colorado I considered applying for it. I still think it would be rad. For a list of some favorite shows you can stream from your computer, go here.

This podcast is associated with the website HowStuffWorks.com. The site sponsors other podcasts too, but SYSK is the best one mainly because their topics are cooler and the podcasters are more entertaining to listen to. I've heard epidsodes ranging from riots, to red heads, to house flies, to kissing, to Amelia Earhart. I found this podcast on iTunes under their free stuff and subscribed. They are usually 20-30 minutes long and new ones come out a couple times a week. They also have a blog where they post the article they write in conjunction with each podcast as well as other interesting articles on a myriad of subjects. Listen. Love. Learn.

A podcast that I subscribed to just yesterday upon the recommendation from a friend is The Moth. Sounds cryptic, but it's just people storytelling. I don't know where the name comes from. I've only listened to 2 stories so far so I don't know much about it yet, but it seems to be more geared towards storytelling for storytelling's sake, and who doesn't love a good story? The Moth definitely has potential to become another favorite.

An uninteresting post and an interesting video

2011-04-25T14:42:00.000-06:00

I got my car serviced for the first time ever (besides oil and tire changes) and got slapped with one of those "welcome to adult life" moments as the mechanic listed the things that needed to be done to it. It's running well and I'm not getting shafted or anything; they are all routine things that all cars must get done periodically, but they still cost money and it hurt a little to dish it out. It's my own fault I didn't take the car in sooner so I didn't have to get them done all at the same time, but whatev. Divided across 6 years of ownership, the costs even out. And it's a great car and worth forking out the $$ to keep nice and running.

Same day as my inspection I finally replaced my windshield, the one that first cracked clear across 4.5 years ago from a massive rock chip on my way to visit Scott in the hospital for the first time. Half a dozen more rock chips and a nearly shattered passenger side later, I bit the bullet and got new glass. The view is almost distracting it's so clear now.

I feel like this post could be metaphor for life and repentence and Easter. Or not. You be the judge.

In a completely unrelated note, this performance is amazing. Do yourself a favor and watch it.

Grandpa Lee

2011-03-15T16:28:00.000-06:00

Leo J. Lee. Christmas or Thanksgiving 2004. 35mm b&w film. (c) Sadie Lee 2004.

I took the above picture as a senior in high school. I was in a black and white photography class. I used my dad's old brick of a Cannon SLR for the class, where there is no such thing as an automatic setting. I wasn't so good at choosing the best camera settings, but what I lacked in the shooting process I learned to make up for in the development process. I cropped this print down from a larger picture which actually includes my uncle to the right. I think they were playing cribbage as the family is wont to do at gatherings like these. I made several test prints of varying sizes and played around with making it lighter or darker. This is the print I actually turned in for a portrait assignment. My name and class period are still penciled on the back. I have a duplicate larger print framed somewhere among my things in Idaho.

I love this picture. I put in in a little black frame and took it with me to college. It sat on a shelf or desk or hung on a wall in every aparment I lived in. It's sitting on my dresser right now. I like it because he doesn't know anybody's looking. If he knows his picture is being taken he gets self concious, sets his lips in a thin, tight half-smile, and sort of looks out of the corner of his eye as if to say "You done yet?" But this picture is how I see him in my head. Relaxed, thinking about something, white hair carefully combed, plaid flannel shirt, probably wearing suspenders, sitting in the old house down the street with the red shag carpet (even though Grandma replaced that carpet 15 years ago).

I don't think Grandpa ever saw this picture. He would probably be embarassed, call me Ol' Sade, peer at it and say "Who's that old cotton picker?" And then I'd laugh at his political incorrectness and modesty.

Grandpa Lee died last Tuesday sometime in the night. He went into the hospital last month the day before my birthday from things that come with old age and being sick. He eventually got released to go back home, but that episode was an intense reality check for me. I finally realized he wouldn't stick around on earth forever. I had a merciful month to get used to the idea before Mom called me with the news last week. I thought it would be a terrible moment, but it really wasn't. More just, sad... and peaceful and reassuring and like everything is fine, because it is fine.

I only really get down about it when I think about the things I'll miss having him there for like reunions, and Christmas, and my wedding, and my future children. I hope my older cousins appreciate how much of their lives and their children's lives they got to share with this guy. I'm sure he'll still be there for all my special times and so will Grandma, but the camera won't see them. Thank heaven for memories, friends, Grandma Helen, and other family to keep him alive in our hearts until we can join him for eternity.

Headstone, Moyallen Quaker Meeting cemetary, Ireland. (c) Sadie Lee 2010.

My Favorite Day

2011-02-19T22:58:00.000-07:00

I had a birthday. Sadly, I didn't take a single picture this year. Whoops. The evening before my birthday we hosted a dinner for some friends and my house-mate (oh, btw I moved; apparently nobody in Idaho knew that but my parents) surprised me with ice cream cake and some presents since most people already had plans the next evening.

I had to work on my birthday, but that wasn't a big deal because I wouldn't have had anything else to do since everyone else was working too. But I only worked a half day then went to lunch with Luke at Rodizio Grill because I had a sweet free meal coupon. The rest of the afternoon I lounged around digesting (a good use of time. You'd know what I'm talking about if you've ever been to an all-you-can-eat-Brazillian grill), fielding phone calls from family, and opening packages from Mom before heading to Luke's house to share the other half of the cake with the fam before the kids went to bed. Following that I went to Red Robin hoping I'd be hungry by then so I could down my free birthday burger, but alas I was not. I made it though about 1/3 of my food before throwing in the figurative towel.

I got to draw out the birthday a little more this week when a friend took me out for a belated birthday lunch downtown at Noodles. I just realized I outline my birthday celebrations according to the food I eat. Well, I guess that's the only way I celebrate. I'm not complaining, because I really like food.

Per usual, friends and family came through. Thanks for always making me feel special on my favorite day.

Abbreviated Christmas Seasonality

2011-01-15T17:28:00.000-07:00

It never feels like Christmas till I'm home in Idaho. Sure, I put up a good front between Thanksgiving and Christmas: tolerate the songs, plan my gift-giving, wear lots of seasonal colors, plan parties. But I really don't feel Christmasy until I'm home next to my own tree with the Carpenters Christmas album playing comfortingly in the background.

That means this year the Christmas season lasted about 26 hours. I arrived home around 10pm on December 24. But they were a nice 26 hours.

I've never missed a Christmas at home. I know eventually I'll spend it somewhere else. All the more reason to keep coming back while I can. Especially when there are people like this to spend it with:

She stole my camera and took this of herself. She doesn't actually have a double chin.

Polishing the silver. Might be my first Christmas dinner not eaten with plastic utensils.

He's learning how to play. He entertained us with half of one song all break.

We went bowling, per usual

Oh, hello.

Grandma is not punching her. It just looks like that.

Strangely, I didn't get any picture of Danny. Sorry, dude. You'll just have to trust me that he was there too.

Live in Concert

2010-12-20T13:16:00.000-07:00

Getting really behind in posting things I want to blog about. Partly because I don't have a lot of spare time these days (at least it's all good things taking up the minutes) and partly because I wanted to include pictures but haven't got around to getting the pictures off my camera until, well, yesterday.

About a month ago I went to see Sara Bareilles in concert with my friend Shelly. We'd been planning this for a couple of months, so we were both really excited. Can you tell?

I really like Sara's music, but I was a little disappointed with the concert. The music was fantastic and she is a very talented performer, but the atmosphere left something to be desired. Turns out Sara has a potty mouth and so do lots of her fans. There was also a lot of people getting drunk and being rude. The concert was sold out, so it was really crowded too. Someone started smoking pot down in front and made everybody stinky. By the end of the night my back was killing me after standing so long and we left during the final encore number. I still like her music, but I don't really feel like seeing her live again unless it was a less-rowdy setting.

Sara's attractive and talented band member. He (partly) made it all worth it ;-)

Sara, as herself.

The next night at the same venue KT Tunstall was coming to play. I kept telling Shelly that I wish I could go to that concert too, but it was ridiculous to go to concerts two days in a row, and I didn't want to pay for more tickets.

Tuesday morning I checked my email and got a message telling me I had won two tickets for the KT Tunstall concert that night. I sat at my computer a bit bewildered and suspicious, then started laughing with sheer disbelieving giddyness. The week before I got an email from Ticketmaster about the upcoming concerts in Denver. To promote the KT Tunstall concert they announced a drawing for tickets. As instructed, I sent an email to the designated address with my name, and lo and behold I won the tickets!

Since I won two tickets, I invited my sister in law Janna to come along with me to the concert. The experience was so much more satisfying that night! It wasn't crowded, people were actually listening to the music and not drinking themselves silly, no illegal substances made themselves known, and on top of it all she was an outstanding performer and extremely talented. She was also very personable and funny between songs. Janna and I had a blast. I didn't get a picture of us, but I did take a few of KT.

That didn't end my week of concert going. On Denver's tourism site they post events around town and every week offer 2-for-1 tickets to various goings-on for the week. They offered some for the Denver Philharmonic Orchestra concert for that Friday night and I attended with a date. The orchestra played with a special guest violinist and it was a great concert. I swooned over seeing a harp. I've only touched mine once since last Christmas, mostly because I've only spent 2.5 days in Idaho since last Christmas. I didn't get any pictures of that concert. Sorry. Just know it was excellent.

The Thanksgiving Report

2010-12-03T15:22:00.000-07:00

I write this because a lot of people seem to want to know what I did for Thanksgiving. I stayed in Colorado. Luke & Co went to Salt Lake City to spend the holiday with Janna's relations. They left on Monday and returned home the following Sunday so I had the whole house to myself all week. I was never lonely though because I have excellent friends who made sure I was taken care of.

I worked Monday through Wednesday, and those three days were full of catching up and late evenings at the office. I shudder to think of the state of my mind (and office) if I had made plans to be gone for the hoilday. We added new locations half way through the month and the startup work put me behind in everything else, including time-sensitive tasks. I'm happy to report I did catch up and all is well and back on schedule.

For the holiday itself I had multiple invitations for dinner, but alas I could not make all of them. I did go to Marylou's for early dinner and Emily's for late dinner. You 'aint never had second dinner till you've had a Thanksgiving second dinner. It was delicious. The company was also excellent. Both families took treat me like their own.

This isn't my first Thanksgiving away from family. My first semester of college was spent in Nauvoo. Travelling anywhere was a prevatitively laborious task, so I stayed in Illinois with most of the student body and we celebrated together. That time was a lot harder, being the first time away. This time wasn't so bad. I called the family in the morning and talked for a long time.

The rest of the week was mostly pleasant. Saturday revolved around the BYU-UT game, the result of which lowered my spirits the remainder of the day. Everyone arrived home on Sunday evening safely and soundly despite the wild weather all across the Rockies. We weren't touched by the storm in this area. It was sunny and lovely all week. Today reached 66 degrees downtown. Happy early Christmas Denver!

Change

2010-10-26T17:02:00.000-06:00

"I have always believed that in the lives of individuals, just as in society at large, the profoundest changes take place within a very reduced time frame. When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not yet ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back. A week is more than enough time for us to decide whether or not to accept our destiny."
Author's note, The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho

I started reading this new book the other day. I encountered the above quote at the end of the author's note at the beginning. The truth of the statement struck me quite forcefully. I've found myself returning to reread it over and over. I thought about it so much I sort of didn't care to start the actual story for a while.

I feel like all of the most "profound" changes in my life took place in relatively short periods of time. This is not to stay that all significant changes occurred quickly because, of course, some things simply cannot be shortened. But the changes that stick most in my mind, and therefore I consider most profound, were choices suddenly imposed upon me. Those moments certainly challenged my courage and forced themselves upon me in such a way to demand a response. Indeed, I could not ignore their presence, nor could I delay my decision out of un-readiness because as it says above, "the challenge will not wait."

I suppose if we did expect sudden challenges before they arrived, and if they were drawn out over a period of time, their impact would not be so indelible in our lives. They are all the more significant and memorable precisely because they are sudden, unexpected, and jarring. It's a lot easier to remember fire is hot once you get burned.

Since I cannot predict when such sudden moments of decision are going to occur, all the more reason to be prepared for whatever comes. All the more reason to make intermediate decisions every day that I can control. All the more reason to stick to morals and goals and beliefs and other tried and tested frameworks to guide my life to minimize stress and maximize making the decision that is matches who I am and/or want to become.

Statistics can be fun!

2010-09-26T21:05:00.000-06:00

Today I discovered the "Stats" tab on my blogger dashboard. I have no idea how long it's been there, but I'm glad it is! It provides me information about my blog traffic such as referring sites (who found me from veganfoodrecipes.com?), countries where people have viewed it, browsers people use, and even the kind of operating system used (the PC people far outnumber Mac; I wonder if that reveals something about my politics). You can view traffic right now, from all day today, all month, and all time. There is no identifying information so I can't tell who exactly who is visiting my corner of the web. I can't back-stalk anyone, but it is very interesting to see what kind of audience I'm reaching. I'm surprised by which posts have had the most views, a little disappointed at the ones that only have a few. But I won't feel bad because that probably has more to do with my marketing than my readership's loyalty.

My favorite information is seeing where people are at when they viewed my blog. The countries with the most pageviews are listed. Of course, by far the place most people view it from is the United States, but surprisingly (or maybe not) the second on the list is Brazil. I had a brother and cousin serve missions in Brazil for our church so they probably pulled it up once in a while. Tied for third are Azerbaijan, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The latter two are explainable-- I know of readers in each place-- but the former? I had to Google it because I'd never heard of it before. Who might have found me in Azerbaijan? Must have turned up in a random web search. To round out the list, fourth most popular is Russia trailed by Burundi, Latvia, Ukraine, and Denmark respectively. As far flung as they may seem, I can actually guess who was viewing it in eastern Europe and Denmark, but I don't know anyone in Burundi. Must have been other fluke hits. I'm surprised Germany and Taiwan didn't make the list since I know I have/had readers in each. I guess the system isn't perfect or comprehensive. But it is certainly entertaining!

Greetings to my readers everywhere! I'm always flattered when people want to read what I write. Even if you have stumbled here by accident, thanks for visiting and feel free to stay a while.

August

2010-08-27T19:42:00.001-06:00

This time of year makes me think of two things: elephant ears and school.

Elephant ears (the food, not the body part) are delicious confections often found at fairs, particularly the North Idaho Fair and Rodeo the third week of August every summer. They consist of a sweet dough rolled out, deep fried, and covered in cinnamon and sugar. Oh, and they're as big as the platters you use for the Thanksgiving turkey. My extended family has run an elephant ear booth at the NI Fair since time immemorial... or maybe just 30-something years. Long enough to become an institution and a landmark with loyal customers the world over. The profits from the booth go into a family fund of sorts and are applied towards things like helping send cousins on missions for our church.

This is my first year missing the fair. Ever. It's really weird. It's always a party in the booth--a big, close, hot, sweaty, greasy, sugary, loud party. I don't miss the greasy, hot, sweaty, sugary part, but I do miss seeing all the cousins and eating my fair share of EE's and chocolate milk. I miss everyone ordering everyone around, complaining if someone doesn't roll/cook/sugar/mix the way they like it done (roll 'em nice and big, no holes, cooked blonde, and evenly coated please!). I miss getting into the fair free, going to the rodeo after the Friday afternoon shift, bartering for MICA burgers, and watching the summer climax and creep to an end.

And then comes school. Or not! This is the first fall I will not start a new year of school in 19 years. That's a long time. It's like, 83% of my life. I should feel weirded out, right? But I don't. I thought I might, but I'm over school for reals. I guess I have a talent for appreciating things while they last, then moving on when the time is right. If I dwell on the past, I miss the exciting things coming up ahead. I'm really so over and done it would feel weirder if I had to go back.

I still have the urge to buy new clothes and school supplies.

Laundry List

2010-08-19T14:35:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm back. It was great. Too much to really blog about in its entirety, so here is a laundry list of things I liked, learned, or did. If I get enough feedback to expand on one I will.

Aer Lingus has nice planes, but bring a coat for the flight because they keep the temperature at freezing, more or less.
All the museums are closed on Mondays in Milan. Use that day to travel, not sightsee. We learned this in Milan, on a Monday.

If you do find yourself with nothing to do on a Monday in Milan, there's a great bench at the Castello Sforzesco that's perfect for taking naps.

I am quite the navigator as long as I have a map and a public transportation pass. Just call me GPS.
Italy is very hot in the summer. And humid. Don't plan on looking cute if you go in the summer, unless you think sweat is cute.
The Italian countryside really looks like you'd imagine it on a postcard: rolling hills covered in green orchards and vinyards and pastures of farm animals.
The best gelato in the world is in San Gimignano. Not even kidding. World Gelato Champions twice.
Michelanelo's David= awesome
I have Rennaisance crush on Brunelleschi-an architecture. I climbed his Dome in Florence. I CLIMED BRUNELLESCHI'S DOME! THAT IS SOO COOl!
The Bell Tower in Pisa leans. It looks like it is peeking out behind the church, kind of like "Andy popping into frame"
St. Peter's is SO BIG. Like, you have no idea. So big. And amazing.
The Pantheon is free! Yah! And in the top 5 coolest buildings I've ever been in. And I've been in some cool buildings.
Florence has way better shopping than Rome. Do all your shopping in Florence.
I'm sorry if you had European plans thwarted by the France air workers strike on July 21. You can blame Mom and I for that. Probably more mom than me because she has a history of causing things like that.
Ireland is not hot in the summer. It's perfect.
Ireland also looks like a postcard.
Checked another World Heritage site off my list: The Giant's Causeway. Look it up and be jealous.
Ireland has better breakfast than Italy. Maybe because it's lacking the ridiculous amounts of carbohydrates. The bacon is to die for. Literally. It's all fatty and delicious!
Linen is cool!
Quakers are very nice people.

Get ready for it...

2010-07-06T15:28:00.000-06:00

Here I go. Life as I know it is about to change, again. I will leave a person who has never been to Italy and Ireland and I will return as someone who has. I think it is so exciting to imagine what life will be like after I'm back. I've always done that, tried to imagine what it's like on the other side of an experience. Who will I be new friends with? What will become my favorite place? What things will I have discovered? What words will I know? Sometimes I imagine so much in advance that I get really sad to think that in so many days the experience will end!

Don't be jealous, please. We all have prioities in life. If you really wanted to go on this trip too, you'd make it happen. We all tend to spend our time and money on what matters most to us. This means a lot to me, so I made it happen. I'm sure there are cool things you make happen every day I won't ever do. I don't mind at all. If I want to do them enough, I will.

I went shopping yesterday for travel-sized bottles for my shampoo, etc. and it was so fun. I love miniature things. They're almost as fun as oversized things.

I didn't work most of last week because I went to a family reunion in Utah, so I have tons of work to do this week before I head out Thursday. Puts a damper on the excitement sometimes when I'm stressing about what has to get done first. It's like getting excited about school letting out when you still have to take finals. You're definitely looking forward to it, but dreading what you have to hurdle to get there. But I will get there! Huzzah!

Lots of adventures coming up, so stay tuned.

Plans vs. Goals

2010-06-21T17:37:00.000-06:00

I feel like I’ve learned a lot about myself in the last year or so, and especially in the last 6 months. Big life changes seem to stimulate these revelations. One thing I’ve learned about myself is I am not a planner. You know those people who [think they] know where there are going to be/do in 1, 5, or 10 years from now? Then when the plans are foiled they fall apart and stress until they make a new plan? I am not one of those people.

This self-revelation came to me more forcefully as I approached the end of my college experience. I had (and still have) so many people ask about my plans. When broached with “What are you going to do?” nobody seemed satisfied with “Whatever I want”, presumably thinking I was being cheeky. Little do they know I’m completely serious. I really feel empowered to do whatever I want. That is not to say I will be irresponsible with my time and resources. I have bills to pay and duties to fulfill, which I pay and fulfill respectively. But I don’t let those things keep me from filling my life with satisfying experiences beyond duty and purse.

Being without definite plans for the future does not mean I am without direction. And not having a plan does not mean I don’t know what I’m doing. I handle what’s in front of me, anticipate what’s coming, and adapt to manage whatever actually happens. Though I don’t have concrete plans, I do have goals. Those do not change, even when plans do. Plans to me are simply means, not ends in themselves. Therefore, if circumstances change and plans have to change, it’s not devastating because I’m still headed toward the same goal(s).

Of course, living this way is not always easy. If the goal is to have fun on the weekends and I fail to make plans for myself, I will waste a Friday night. And if a goal is job satisfaction when I have no prospect of future employment after college graduation, that can be a little unsettling. But really, I’ve never been disappointed at how life works itself out. My weekends get rescued, a job opportunity comes. None of this “plan for the worst and expect the best” because really, if you are only prepared for the worst, how are you going to enjoy the best? You are only prepared to treat it like the worst. I’d rather just expect the best and when it doesn’t happen (though it usually does) I just change my expectation of what is “best” under the new circumstances. And when the best does happen, well life just got that much better!

Please don’t thing I’m stagnant, waiting for good things to happen. On the contrary, I try to stay actively engaged in pursuing happiness—my ultimate goal. The trick is allowing my definitions of what brings happiness to stay flexible. Sometimes it’s this book, sometimes it that person, sometimes it’s a place. I put together loose ideas of what to do and where to be, but changing my mind is always an option. Close friends and family have witnessed my track record of making somewhat sudden, life-changing, and occasionally expensive decisions, but I never regret any of those decisions. In fact, if I had resisted those opportunities to change my mind, so much of my life that I value most would not exist! Sad thought!

Are you a planner? Does it stress you out when plans change? Try just being a goal-setter for a while and see what it does for you. Embrace the freedom of change! Never change the goals when they are important, but rather change the way to work towards them depending on your circumstances. I can’t promise health, wealth, or happiness, but I can suggest you can gain appreciation for a new way of looking at life that might prove useful.

* Photos, in order of placement:

-storm approaching over Orderville, UT

-me riding a scooter in Taiwan

-me in front of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem

-on the road somewhere in Missouri

Inquiries for additional explanations may be left as comments

Throw Me a Rope

2010-06-06T10:39:00.000-06:00

"Throw Me a Rope" is a song by a girl named KT Tunstall. You may have heard her song "Black Horse and a Cherry Tree" on the radio. She has a lot of great stuff, and I think the songs not playing on the radio are her best. This is one of them. Sometimes I listen to it on repeat, over and over and over. It's a rare song if I don't tire of it quickly.

This song reminds me of many people, especially at this time when I've headed off into a great unknown, not knowing anyone but my brother and his little family. Sometimes the song makes me think of one far away person, sometimes another. A family member, a friend. People I miss and I wish could be near. There's something about being physically close to someone that satisfies like nothing else. Sometimes I'd rather be next to someone in silence than apart and talking.

Sometimes the song reminds me of places, especially places where I've learned to be me. It's scary to leave the security of familiar places for a new place, a place where I haven't learned to be me yet. I love to explore new places and meet new people, but it's not as fun to have only new people. I like to have a few old people and places around me, ones who know me already, who I don't have to explain myself to. I find it very restful to be with these things who know my freckles, my laugh, my jokes, my stories.

Don't think I'm lamenting my lot. This is a good place with good people. I'm slowly putting down little roots, meeting people, learning where to go and how to be. I just wish I had a best friend here holding my hand through it.

Listen to the song here. Below are the lyrics. Enjoy, and think of me.

Throw Me a Rope

I want you between me and the feeling I get when I miss you
But everything here is telling me I should be fine

So why is it so, above as below,

That I'm missing you every time

I got used to you whispering things to me into the evening

We followed the sun and its colours and left this world

It seems to me that I'm definitely

Hearing the best that I've heard

So throw me a rope to hold me in place

Show me a clock for counting my days down

Cause everything's easier when you're beside me

Come back and find me

Cause I feel alone

And whenever you go it's like holding my breath underwater

I have to admit that I kind of like it when I do

Oh but I've got to be unconditionally

Unafraid of my days without you

So throw me a rope to hold me in place

Show me a clock for counting my days down

Cause everything's easier when you're beside me

Come back and find me

Whenever I'm falling you're always behind me

Come back and find me

Cause everything's easier when you're beside me

Come back and find me

Cause I feel alone

Business Trip

2010-06-01T12:46:00.000-06:00

I took a trip to Oakland, CA, last week for my new job to train with the office people who have been doing my job so that I can now do my job. I work for DPW Parking, and offshoot of Douglas Parking headquartered in Oakland. My brother Luke is their Denver Regional manager, and I’m the Denver office manager/account manager/assistant [to the] regional manager. The girls in the Oakland office taught me how to use their system to do invoicing and billing for all the monthly parking accounts in Denver. (You don’t need to understand what that means.)

In case you didn’t know, parking management is big business. I didn’t know until I got this job. (In passing, I realize I have a habit of doing things with knowing exaclty what I'm getting into. I think it makes life exciting.) David Douglas, one of the company owners, picked me up after I flew in and took me on a mini-tour of downtown. He pointed out unique features and buildings of Oakland…and their associated parking facilities that Douglas Parking manages. It’s very interesting to be around people in parking. They always notice parking lots: who runs them, how full they are, rates. It’s similar to watching a sport with someone who plays the game. They will always notice technique and mistakes that the untrained spectator will not. A player doesn’t just see the touchdown; he sees the awesome block by the offensive line that opened the hole for the tight end to run through.

I have discovered that parking management is an exercise in predicting human behavior. And it’s kind of fascinating. Not the managing part, but observing the people who do the managing. They don’t just see a place to park. They see how full lots are, and if they aren’t full, why not? If some lot is usually full, why isn’t it full today? Where are people parking instead? How can we change that? An empty lot is an anomaly, and anomalies can seem paralyzing. Where is the miscommunication? Do we need a sign? What kind of sign? Will people understand the sign? Initiate panic mode! (Not really…but sometimes.) They are trying to predict human behavior—predict where people will park and why they will park and for how long—and when their prediction is wrong they are in a flutter to rectify their worldview.

I use this information to understand how to communicate effectively. I have to evaluate what people tell me, why they tell me, and what they don't tell me (what they don't tell me is presumably what I should already know). I do not have a parking manager's brain (and I don't really want one; don't take it personally, Luke) but I do want to understand the parking manager's brain. Actually, I must if I want to keep my job.

For those of you who wonder when and where I will ever use my anthropology, the answer is I already do, all the time, everywhere.

Fieldwork

2010-05-21T13:50:00.000-06:00

As an anthropologist, I'm drawn to make initial conclusions regarding my new environment in as I seek to gain rapport with the native population. Here's what I have so far:

People in Colorado drive very slowly. I noticed all the more because I just moved from Utah where you are going too slow if you aren't 10+ over the speed limit (not me, of course; I'm too afraid of getting a ticket). I understand if traffic or the weather is bad, but when there are only four cars on a sun-drenched four lane highway? They must not be in a hurry to go anywhere. I feel like a speed racer as I zoom by people at the speed limit.

Little boys are much different house-mates than 20-something girls. I forget what it's like to live with small children. It's exhausting, especially since I'm the novelty, so they are always checking to see what I'm doing. If it looks boring, they want to play basketball instead. (If we could harness the energy of small children we wouldn't have an energy crisis.)

Colorado is NOT in a drought. It has rained every day but 3 I think since I arrived. And it snowed 3 inches my first or second day of work. I have learned that many people keep a jacket, ice scraper, and umbrella in their cars year-round. I now do too.

"Parking management" has its own language, which I am slowly learning. I now know what "process this application for JC, send an AR to Marlene and then lets go check the booth at Wynkoop after you scan the BD" means.

Three-year-olds also have their own language. I am not learning it slowly. Or at all. I usually defer to a translator.

Singles Wards are all the same. Going to the ward here has been the easiest transition for me to adapt to. First day at church I found the guy who sits in front and answers all the questions in Sunday School, the very eligible nice-guy in a position of authority who nobody seems to know why is still single, the funny-man and his entourage, the bubbly RS president who already remembers my name, the wife of a counselor with a hobby of setting up single people, and the handful of chill people who are ready to adopt me as an insider. Per usual, every meeting starts 10 minutes late, and the "cool" people don't get there for another five. I'm still that new girl who seems nice and goes to activities, but not everyone has met or remembers my name. It's a label I can handle. I like being new because you always have an excuse if you don't know what is going on. "I'm new" inspires both compassion and curiosity, both excellent ice breakers.

Announcements

2010-05-03T22:11:00.000-06:00

No, not that kind of announcement. I'll prepare you better before that happens. Speaking of marriage, I was with family all weekend so I got that question a lot. Not as much as I used to get. Maybe they are giving up on me. Or graduation overshadowed my singlehood this time. Haha, that reminds me of a story. My little brother and I had a conversation this weekend. It went like something like this:

   little brother: So are all those guys at BYU idiots?
   me: Apparently. Guys don't go for girls who aren't staying around.
   little brother: That's dumb.
   me: Well, what would you do if you liked a girl but she was moving away in a week?
   little brother: Change her mind.

Good answer, little brother. I gave him a high five and assured him of future success in life and marriage with that attitude.

Yes, I'm moving away from Utah. That's one of the real announcements. My brother Luke offered me a job with his company in Denver and I accepted. Now that I'm done with school and nobody has really tried to "change my mind", there's no reason to stay around here. I'm moving to Colorado next weekend and start the job in one week from today. I don't know anything about Denver except that everyone likes it. That's encouraging.

The other announcement is connected to the reason I was with family all weekend. Twelve days ago I took my last final ever. Then I went home triumphant until my mom called to tell me my Aunt Gayle had passed away on a humanitarian trip to Tonga. It was shocking and terrible, but we're ok. She's ok. Uncle Gary's ok. Isn't it so nice how we can be ok because of what we know? I love that. I've felt really peaceful and good about the whole situation despite the tragedy. It's sort of weird, to be ok about it, but I know she lived a great life and is still doing good where she is now. The hard part is learning to live without her. But even in that department there have been miracles to reward our faith.

One blessing is I got to see all my immediate family but Josh this weekend as we traveled to Rigby, Idaho, for Aunt Gayle's memorial service. My mom got us hotel rooms and all the siblings had to share two rooms. No additional deaths or major altercations = another miracle. (We love each other, but sometimes we love better from a distance.) Under the circumstances, it was a nice weekend of fellowship and comfort.

Uncle Gary and Aunt Gayle are both from Coeur d'Alene originally, so the local paper did a nice story on Gayle. You can read it here if you want more details.

Graduation

2010-04-24T15:00:00.000-06:00

It was all that I thought it would be: long, and smiley.

But sacrifices must be made because this is only happens once, right?

My parents and Sam flew down from home for the occasion. Scottie couldn't miss any more school. Luke, Janna & Co. came from Colorado too; Janna's sister also graduated. I didn't get any pictures with my own camera of everyone, so you'll just have to imagine it. My mom's brother Don and sister Penny and their respective spouses also attended Convocation on Friday. Commencement on Thursday and Convocation of Friday were followed by visiting and feasting and merrymaking appropriate to the occasion.

If I don't tell you, everyone else will. The College of Family, Home, and Social Science has a tradition of recognizing valedictorians from each department in the college, and I was it for the Department of Anthropology. That means I got a certificate and medallion, sat on the stand at convocation with the other 7 or 8 valedictorians, and couldn't fidget for two and a half hours because everyone would see. That's really hard for me. If I sit in one position too long I go numb. Some of the faculty on the stand brought papers to grade, knitted, or played with cell phones. Brilliant.

The valedictorians had to meet in the Marriott Center before the ceremony to find out where we'd sit, walk, etc. It was fun to meet the other kids. They were all pretty cool, the kind of people you wish you'd have met at the beginning of college and been friends with all along. One of the other vals gave the speech, two did a musical number, and two others gave the prayers, so all I had to do was show up. Not a bad deal. The val's graduated after the doctoral and master students, and since Anthropology is at the beginning of the alphabet I got to be first for the undergrads. That was kinda neat.

I have great people in my life. Thanks all of you who care about me and do nice things for me. Graduation is kind of a big deal, and nobody achieves it on their own.

My parents and Sam are now flying back home and I'm really left completely to myself for the first time to do....well, whatever I want. Right now I'm not sure what that is, but I'll probably figure it out soon.

Swing Dancing

2010-04-20T13:45:00.000-06:00

WARNING: this is a big one, and it gets nerdy

I graduate on Friday. I’ve been thinking a lot about all the things I've done, places I've gone, people I've met, subjects I've studied, and mentors I've looked up to for the past five school years. One thing I’ll miss the most is the Swing Kids Club. I've wanted to write a little tribute to this gem of a club for a while, and this is as good an opportunity as any.

I took an Introduction to Folklore class this semester for my last GE requirement. (Most people have an incomplete vision of what folklore it. Basically, it’s traditional and informal knowledge of a group of people.) I did my major semester project on the folklore of swing dancing. As part of it, I interviewed dancers to analyze why kids joined the club, what made them keep coming, and ultimately, how they felt they belonged or not. This project allowed me to think back on my own experience with the club and how I learned the lore and found a place in this group. The exercise has been enlightening.

If you didn't already know or haven’t figured it out yet, I like to swing dance. Like real, '40s, big band, jazzy, swing dance. During the winter semester of my freshman year at BYU, I sort of invited myself along to a club dance one weekend with a friend from my ward. I knew nothing, and it showed. I’d never tried real partnered dance before and I was completely lost! I felt stupid at my lack of knowledge. I determined it would not beat me, so I started attending lessons the club holds on Tuesday evenings. I finally learned the steps, and eventually I learned to dance. (Those are very different things.)

Swing dancing became my default social life. If I didn't make plans for Saturday night, I could always rely on a swing dance somewhere on campus full of friends to dance with. During my sophomore year I tried out and made one of the club's dance teams (I'm on the left. Oh wow, that was a long time ago. We were all still learning). Through that experience I became more integrated with the club and its members. People recognized me when I came, and missed me when I didn't. It felt good.

When I interviewed fellow swing dancers for this folklore project, almost everyone identified a handful of key characteristics of club “regulars”, people who are clearly recognized as belonging to the swing scene:

Frequent attendance
Intent to improve
Attending alone
Take initiative to become friends with other dancers

As you can gather from my description above, I naturally did all those things. I felt validated as I talked with other dancers and saw that their process of integration mirrored my own. I felt like not only do we all belong because we share the above characteristics, but also because we all went through the same transition into dancers. We all knew what it was like to be confused, self conscious, and unsure of ourselves. Because of that, we appreciate each other’s success all the more once someone “got it”.

Whatever the factor, I think my love of swing dancing can really be boiled down to two things: the club was a place I belonged, and it was also a thing all my own. It was really the first time I exercised my independence and found something by myself I wanted to learn about and excel in. I built up my skill on initiative and desire. Nobody was grading me; no coach pushing me. I didn’t care what other people thought about it. The sheer possession of the hobby helped me create an identity for myself that was really all me. The self esteem boost at this formative time of life left me satisfied and empowered.

That’s the take home message here. We’re defined by the groups we are a part of. Some are chosen for us, but others we get to choose. I think the ones that we get to choose reveal the most about us.

I think I just had a related epiphany. But I’ll save it for another day.

Dancing last year at the Utah Lindy Exchange

Graduation Announcement

2010-04-17T16:09:00.000-06:00

I really am graduating.

Just in case you wanted to come (haha, I'm so funny), here's the announcement. I designed it myself.

Photo credit to Camile Kellogg.

Lastly

2010-04-13T20:23:00.000-06:00

Today was my last last day of school. How does it feel, you ask? Feels like I still have some finals to take, so not too different than any other school day. The biggest work is over though, so I'm not too worried about the next week.

I wish I would have taken a picture this morning.

I'm a lucky girl

2010-03-31T22:14:00.000-06:00

Today's a WIN.

I worked all morning and finished my project for my folklore class and turned it in with plenty of time.

Oh ya, I also PURCHASED TICKETS TO ITALY AND IRELAND!!!!

Yup, headed to the motherland. Why? I'll tell you. My mom is involved in (actually, she's the token president of) a family non-profit organization that connects the descendants of John Blackburn who immigrated from Ireland around 1700. I have no idea how she found it, but for the last five or six years she's attended the reunions held every other year in different places related to the family's history including Ireland once before, Gettysburg, PA, and Salt Lake City. It's Ireland's turn again. Last time she went I really wanted to go, but it was the summer before my senior year of high school and I'd already planned out all my camps for that very same time frame. I'm glad I'm going now instead of then though because I'll appreciate it a lot more.

Wait, what about Italy? Glad you asked. Once I convinced Mom it was a good idea to go back to Ireland and take me with her, I suggested that since we are spending all this money go to clear over to Europe, we might as well take some time and see a few other places. She agreed with my logic, and said we could go other places if I planned it. GAAAK! Can you say dream come true?? I was paralyzed with indecision for months, but this last week I went and talked to a BYU travel agent (anyone can use them, and it's free!) and she helped me figure out realities. I did more research over the weekend and we finalized the flights today. We start in Milan, make our way south for 10 days, hop from Rome to Dublin, spend a week in Ireland, then head home.

Meraviglioso!

I'm sooo excited for this trip, especially since I took an art history class last semester that covered the Renaissance. I'm a study abroad nut remember. All the best vacations are educational. The should be called eduvacations. Or veducational. Ha!

Splash n' Dash

2010-03-21T21:55:00.000-06:00

I splashed. I dashed. I did not win, but I did not die. I think that deserves some kind of congratulations.

I am referring to my participation in BYU's annual Splash n' Dash Biathlon and 5K event. The biathlon is a swim/run of varying distances corresponding to the different divisions: beginner, standard, and elite. There is also a straight up 5K run. Money raised goes toward other student events on campus. I did the beginner division which was a 1/4 mile swim and 3K run. It was a perfect morning for a race, the kind where you feel spring is in your bones and you can't help but be out in the world.

I am currently in a beginning swim class. I thought it would be fun and good exercise because I'd never done swimming for exercise before. It's HARD. It's the hardest exercise I've ever done. It is way easier for me to run 5 miles in my grossly-underconditioned body than it is to swim 10 laps in a pool. I have felt improvement--ever so slight--over the semester, but it still kicks my trash twice a week for 35 minutes.

I decided to do the biathlon for the exercise, and to apply what I've learned in my class. We had swum (is that a word?) 1/4 mile and more in class before so I knew I wouldn't die. I haven't run at all lately except for a 30 minute jog last weekend when the weather was nice and I got inspired. But I know I could run the 3K no problem even without proper conditioning; it's less than two miles. Running used to be all I did for exercise. I still have the endurance of strength in my legs, just not in my lungs.

So, yeah. I did it. Very slowly, but I finished. The swim took a lot more out of me than I expected it too, so my run was quite under par, but I didn't walk or anything. I have a lot of pride leftover from my ol' cross country days where I'd NEVER let myself walk in a race no matter how miserable and exhausted I was. Danny came and served as my lap counter at the pool, then proceeded to follow me along unsolicited most of the running course on his motor scooter since it mostly wound around campus roads. It was cute.

I actually feel pretty good today. I expected to be really sore like I was after last weekend's run, but I don't feel any worse for the wear. For those of you who need a picture or it didn't happen, here's one Danny took with his phone afterward. That's my friend Janae's little sister, Laurel, on the left. She did it too.

Please don't bother making jokes about how white I am. They're still not funny and still don't make me feel bad. I'm fully aware of my fair complexion and it doesn't bother me because it will never change. If it bothers you, that's a personal problem and I'd rather not hear about it.

I don't know what my time was overall. I don't really care either. If I'm not in condition to be competitive, I cease keeping score. I'm satisfied that I did it, and that's enough. Go me.

Notes

2010-03-04T22:37:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the tirade last post. It never lasts long. I was over it by that evening when I rebounded with a free meal at my favorite restaurant Tucanos. (If you join their birthday club you get a free meal during the month of your birthday.) It was my last official birthday acknowledgement. The friends I went with made sure I got sung to and my free dessert and everything. And then I went to the BYU vs UT game in SLC last night and we dominated. Everything's good.

Especially today. I'm a member of the BYU 15th Stake and tonight all the women were able to attend a special Relief Society meeting with Sister Julie Beck, LDS General Relief Society President. I don't know who pulled the right strings because she doesn't often do this kind of thing locally, but I'm glad she made us an exception. She gave a few introductory remarks, then opened it up for questions from those in attendance. I really respect Sis. Beck. I always feel invested with confidence after listening to her. She never apologizes for teaching truth. I took extensive notes, but here are some of her main points and other favorite tidbits.

If you don't have faith to succeed, you'll act in ways that will prevent success. If you go forward with faith, you will make things happen for yourself because God will feed your faith and reward your righteous desires.
Making covenants doesn't insure success. Keeping them does.
Never measure yourself against anything but your relationship with Christ. If you're square with him, you're a success.
It's not worth it to mess around with our identity.
The number of dates we go on isn't a measure of the steps we are taking towards motherhood.
Always choose the choice that will take you toward eternal life.

Of course, no RS meeting is complete without a bookmark handout and a treat. I wish every meeting concluded with Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Sticks!

This could have been a great day...

2010-02-27T17:33:00.000-07:00

I feel like I've been robbed, dumped, run over, and rendered useless generally.

It could have been an epic day. It started out with so much potential for greatness. Spring weather, good night's sleep.

Then looked at the news about Chile (in case you live under a rock, read this: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100227/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_chile_earthquake). It makes my heart hurt. I'm very thankful that the area is more prepared for such an event than Haiti was for theirs, but it's still a scary and heart-wrenching situation. I've had a cousin and many friends serve missions in Chile and I know it must be so hard for them to wait for the news about the safety of friends.

After that crappy start to the day, I figuratively pulled myself up by my bootstraps and studied for my archaeology midterm which I had to start taking by noon so I could make it to the last home basketball game by 2pm. I think I did pretty well on it, and was feeling like a champ as I headed over to the Marriott Center for the big game against New Mexico. It was a close game the whole time, and the teams were within 3 points of each other the whole time. The biggest lead was when we got up by 6 points for about 2 seconds.

And then the officials ceased officiating. I have 6 brothers and a sister who have all played basketball. I've been to almost every single home game while I've been in Provo. I've watched a LOT of basketball, and it was the WORST officiating I have ever witnessed in my entire life. I don't say that because we lost. I say that because it's true. I'm willing to admit when we are playing crappy, or the other team is playing well, but we were both playing well and we just got robbed by blind referees. I'm still boiling about it. It felt like the game was 5 on 8 instead of 5 on 5. I'm not even upset toward NM (well, mostly...there was an awful lot of dirty play today boys). They are a good team and showed it today as they sunk all the 3-pointers we couldn't.

I'm usually a pretty happy person. I tend to get along with others even when we don't see eye to eye, or I lose, or someone gets hurt. It takes a lot of crap to make me angry for reals, not just sad or disappointed or annoyed. There is one trigger that gets me going like nothing else, though, even in its smallest dose.

Unfairness.

I love playing games, but if we aren't playing fairly I'd rather be pulling weeds (trust me, that really means something). It's never fun to play with a cheat. If I lose, I lose because I didn't play as well as the winner and I'm over it. If I ever play you at anything, please don't cheat. I'll lose respect for you faster than I'll get mad about it, and it makes me mad fast.

I hate how anger makes me feel, but in the defense of justice, I think it's, well, justified. It may be just a game, but it's still involves and element of morality. Basketball is included in that admonition to be "honest in all things." Ok, moving on.

For all of you that have loved ones in danger around the world, either from health problems or natural disaster or broken heart, I'll keep praying for you and them. Those are real problems that matter.

The Birthday Girl

2010-02-22T23:26:00.000-07:00

It happened yet again. And it was awesome! Did I say my friends pull through, or did I say my friends pull through? It all started with breakfast in bed--waffles from scratch, scrambled eggs, orange juice-- all prepared by my wonderful roommate Jackie and presented by all the roomies singing Happy Birthday. I'd post the picture, but I make a point of never posting unflattering pictures of myself.

I skipped my morning exercise classes (one was canceled anyway) and went to the Provo Temple instead because I haven't been able to attend all semester due to my school/work schedule. Back at home I took my time getting beautiful for the day (because you have to look beautiful on your birthday) and got a knock at the door from a delivery man who delivered a dozen beautiful roses from my parents!

I finally went to work and class. I got lots of calls and messages all day from people who love me. I was a little upset that my brother Danny didn't call me all day.... and then he surprised me and showed up with my friend Eric! The boys and Eric's girlfriend Aura Maria took me out to Sammy's, a local burger joint. for my birthday dinner. It was delicious! Who needs cake when you can eat a pie shake? This place literally takes a piece of homemade pie and sticks it in a blender with ice cream. It's brilliant. After dinner I returned home in time to be invited with some other people over for hot chocolate at one of the houses in my ward. Word spread that it was my birthday and I got a special mixture of Orange Cream Hot Chocolate in the coveted Lord of the Rings mug and everyone sang Happy Birthday before I blew on the chocolate to cool it off as there were no candles handy.

Birthday hoopla didn't end there! The next evening I went out with more of my favorite people ever: Diane and Janae, my old Nauvoo roommates. We went and redeemed food coupons I received for my birthday! We hit up Baskin Robbins and Coldstone Creamery. Janae had to leave after that, so only Diane and I made it to Red Robin for my free burger.

The festivities didn't end there either! The next weekend my parents came to SLC for the Utah Dental Convention and they brought presents and took me out to dinner at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Spoiled? Yep.

For good measure we wound the weekend up with dinner at Los Hermanos with the aunts and uncles on Saturday where my cousin John was our server for the night. Mom declared my birthday celebrations over. However, I just received my Tucanos coupon in the mail for a free meal this month for my birthday, so I'll have to make room for at least one more party.... <|:-)

Yay for birthdays!

Welcome to February

2010-02-02T18:13:00.000-07:00

It's February! That means it's almost my birthday! I love birthdays (one of my favorite things, remember?)! I don't know why. Probably because my family always made it special growing up. Spending my first birthday away from home in college was almost as traumatic as spending my first Thanksgiving away from home. Who was going to make me breakfast in bed? Make my bed? Take me to lunch? Make me a cake? Take me to dinner? Make me feel like a princess all day?

Lucky for me, I have awesome friends who take it upon themselves to make my birthdays special and they are pretty good at it.

* * *

While I'm on the subject, here is my unabashed list of birthday wishes:

Permission to travel to Europe next summer
Mat Kearny's "City of Black and White" CD
Corinne Bailey Rae's "The Sea" CD
Snickers Cake
Strawberry crepes
Permission to travel to Europe next summer
A routine maintenance checkup for my car
Seasons 1 and 2 of "This American Life" TV series
World peace

That's not too much to ask, is it?

My Favorite Things

2010-01-30T11:12:00.000-07:00

I got my hair cut this morning. I LOVE getting my hair cut. So afterward, I was thinking about how much I loved getting my hair cut and I started comparing it to other things I loved, and trying to decide what I liked more. It's pretty hard, because I love lots of things. I decided they can all be favorites, with some being more favorite than others sometimes. In no particular order, these are some of my favorite things.

Haircuts

Jello

Strawberry crepes

Birthdays!

Dancing!
Getting mail
Sleep

Traveling

Stories

Yoplait yogurt (eet ees so guud)

Dressing up

Reunions

Nerds (the candy)
Rolo Cookies
Ice cream with popcorn

These girls

Tucanos
Boggle
Tortilla chips

Jerusalem

Accessories
Clearance sales at JC Penney

Nauvoo

Winning

And the first shall be last

2010-01-12T14:07:00.000-07:00

This is me in 1992 on my very first day of school ever. Mom was in the hospital because Scottie had just been born, so Dad took me to my first day. I look excited here, but once we got to the classroom I certainly wasn't. Believe it or not, I was a shy little tot. I did not like being around people I didn't know. I think I was scarred a bit from strangers touching my hair without permission.

This is me on my last first day of school. No pink jacket or purple socks, but I wore my hair on the side for old times' sake.

I now have curly hair, I'm no longer averse to meeting strangers, and I no longer wear such killer shorts (pretty sure they wouldn't pass honor code) but other than that, I'm basically the same person in a taller body.

School started a week ago Monday. It's fine. I'm already ready to be done with it. This is the longest I have stayed at school in Provo without making a major life decision and moving away for a semester, so I'm a little restless. It'll be a busy semester, akin to last school year, but whatever.

I'm sick and missing classes and work as of today. I think I ate something awful last night and it's making me suffer. I want to eat but nothing sounds good, and it makes me nauseous just to think about eating. I already puked up the orange I ate for breakfast. Actually, and orange sounds kind of yummy. I'm not one to negatively associate food with certain experiences. The closest I've come to doing that resulted in me not craving spaghetti for a year or so. Ironically, last night I had planned to make spaghetti for dinner, but for convenience sake ate something out of a can. That was a bad idea, apparently.

Time to put on a semi-happy face when the roommates get home or I'll get smothered. They like to kill with kindness. Oh, the trials of being loved and cared for by awesome friends!

What are you going to do with that?

2009-12-28T15:35:00.000-07:00

I hear that question a lot. Mostly because people don't actually understand what anthropology is. If they truly understood what I study, the question wouldn't be so annoying because it would be an informed question from someone who trusts that I have legit career path possibilities, not a followup question in an effort to mask ignorance. Like when people ask me where I'm from and I say Idaho, and then they ask what part and I say Coeur d'Alene, and then they nod like they know and kinda squint and ask if that's near Blackfoot, because they have cousins in Blackfoot. Nope. Idaho knowledge fail.

Let me inform the curious and give you something else to ask me whenever you see me for the next year whether this stays current news or not. I want to work for these guys. They have an internship I want to try for. I don't know anything about radio broadcasting, but I'm a smart kid; I can learn. My ultimate goal is not to love the actual studio production aspect, but to find stories and write shows and interview people.

I first heard about This American Life from a class. I rediscovered this nugget of a public radio show this last semester and spent a lot of time listening to past shows while I worked at the museum on a project that didn't often need brain power. I love a good story, and these shows are all about good stories. Not just good stories, but good stories with a point. There's always a "so what?" to the stories, and the anthropologist inside me glories in the discovery of the "so what?" and "why does that matter?" (Ironically, I discovered what I wanted for Christmas, these three days after Christmas: Lucky for me, I have a birthday coming up! hint, hint)

If I did score an internship, it wouldn't happen for a year, as in January 2011. The internships run Jan-June and July-Dec in NYC, and they're paid. I could try for the July one next summer, but I plan to be out of the country most of that month.

In the meantime....I'll find something else to do. Don't ask me what, because I don't know.

2009-12-23T01:21:00.000-07:00

This is my brother Scott.

He is the toughest kid I know. He contracted cancer when he was 13. He's gone through more crap in a few years than most people will ever deal with in their whole life. Sometimes it's annoying having a brother who always has the trump card when it comes to sickness (c'mon, I know my tummy ache is nothing like you've had, but it still hurts!) but he can have it.

He regularly took this many pills each day for the last 2+ years

Exactly three years and four months after his diagnoses, today he had his port removed. He is no longer a cancer patient. He will have monthly monitoring blood tests for a year, then tests every other month for a year, then bi-annual tests for the rest of his life. (The most frequently asked question is "Is he in remission?" Remission is the shrinkage or absence of the cancer. That happened after his first month of treatment. Unlike a tumor which can be measured to an extent, leukemia hides out in the bones. He's been in remission for over three years, but he's also been full of chemo which kills it as soon as it enters the blood stream. Is the cancer gone? We don't actually know until the chemo stops and we see if the cancer cells reappear.)

I've never heard/saw him feel sorry for himself. He'd acknowledge if he hurt or felt sick, but never to get pity. He knew complaining never took away any pain. His condition kept him from doing lots of things he was used to, so he developed other hobbies instead.

He has a wonderfully developed sense of humor. Our family is the first to joke about his condition. It's not morbid or anything, it's just part of our lives, just like how we joke about the number of pictures Dad takes, or how hott Danny thinks he is.

(photo credit to Josh Lee)

Thanks to all my friends who were so supportive of my family, who brought food, bought video games, sent hats, or just always remembered to ask. I've never had cancer, but having a brother with cancer was pretty hard in its own way. I really appreciate your concern for me and mine.

I'm most thankful for the inner strength that has come into my life and the lives of those this has affected. We'd never choose to go through this, but since we had to, I know we're better for it. You may be thinking "I could never go through that." You're right. But if you had to, you'd be given the capacity. Heavenly Father promises to make a way "whereby [we] can accomplish all things" that he allows to happen to us. That's a real promise. I lived it. Access to that enabling power through the Atonement is the real significance of the Baby born in Bethlehem. Let's not forget that this Christmas season.

*pictures courtesy of Scott's Facebook account

DING. Time's up.

2009-12-18T23:49:00.001-07:00

I'm back! Did you miss me?

I'm home. Finals are over and not having any academic obligations for 16 days is a very happy prospect. I had a pretty low key finals week. I only had two tests and a presentation, and since I'm a champ I rocked all of it. I even managed to work 15 hours, watch some movies, hang out with friends, and start a modeling career.

Wait, what?

Yes, you read that right. Sort of. It's a funny story. Or maybe it's only funny to me. To preface, my Aunt Mary Ann tells me every time she sees me that I should be a model because I have "exotic eyes," to the point that it's a family joke. Then, one day last week I saw a woman from church who randomly stopped me and told me that I should be a model, because I am "interesting" looking, whatever that means. I usually just smile and nod when people create new career paths for me because they don't know what I do anyway.

Well, I fulfilled Aunt Mary Ann's dream for me on Monday. A girl in one of my classes is a photography major and asked me to pose for a photo for one of her final projects. Her friend did the awesome makeup and hairstyling. We had a lot of fun. The point of the project was to kind of personify character traits, and I got to be the dark side. Luckily, I've had a lot of practice with the "stare-down-I-don't-care-get-out-of-my-way" face on my brothers over the years. The photographer and makeup artist were sufficiently impressed with it. Way better than Blue Steel. If she sends me any copies of my photos I'll post them.

Maybe I should look up the next casting call for ANTM. Heck with academia! With the current job market, championing a "reality" show may be a more attainable objective anyway.

Learning Celebration

2009-12-02T12:10:00.001-07:00

That's what some professors call tests when they want to be cute.

I promise this is my last post till finals are over. Not that I think you're tired of me (right?? I flatter myself), but I need to stop spending time on here and do other things instead, like pass classes. Also, I no longer need warm-up writing exercises because yesterday

I TURNED IN THE FINAL DRAFT OF MY THESIS!!!!!

I used the term "final" loosely. The paper definitely needs more work, even today I've found typos and things I want to change, but for the purposes of the class I'm done with long version. And I'm proud of it. It justifies all the training I got from hard assignments and classes throughout my BYU education in a satisfying way. It was actually easy to write for 33+ pages; editing and revising was the hard part (hence, that part is not quite done.)

No, you can't read it yet. I just knew you were going to ask, Mom. (I don't know why anyone wants to, but I have had requests-plural.) To pacify you, here's the title as a teaser: "Who do you belong to?": Understanding a Monument through Local Conceptions of Belonging. Sounds so, um, thrilling. (zzzzz....zzzzz....)

Now I'm on to creating a short 8-page version of my thesis which will be read at an academic conference if I so choose to apply for one, as well as a poster version of the paper, and a power point presentation. All by the end of the semester. Yes, my teacher is ambitious (and a little crazy) to have us do all that by the end of the semester. But I'm a champ; I'll make it happen.

Ok, that's all. Goodbye for now.

Insomnia Part Deux

2009-11-28T05:36:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure why I've had so much trouble sleeping lately. I haven't taken cold medicine for nearly a week. Still, I go to bed and sometimes it's hours before I finally drift off into sound sleep after tossing and turning in a partial-doze. Tonight was par for the course, but instead of eventually achieving unconsciousness, the opposite happened. It's doesn't help that I developed a pinched nerve in my neck at some point yesterday so most positions are painful. Lame. I'm supposed to get up in 3 hours and fly back to Utah in 6 hours, conveniently in time for my last BYU v. Utah game of my undergraduate career. So much for getting unfinished homework done on the plane. Hopefully I can catch a nap. The up side of insomnia is a unusually prolific week of blog posting!

It's been a good week at home. On Wednesday my cousin Spike came home from his LDS mission to Manaus, Brazil. He's the one with the balloons. The local news station captured his entrance. You can watch it here. Our family is at about 0:50. The family is celebrating Thanksgiving on Saturday once all his siblings come to town for his homecoming/his brother Dusty's baby blessing this Sunday. Danny and I will miss both Saturday and Sunday's events but we got our tickets before we knew about what was going on. It'll be like Thanksgiving in the old days with 50+ people crammed into Grandma's house, except now there are too many for a house so they're having the dinner at the church. Oh well.

Thanksgiving Day was a (relatively) small affair this year. We had dinner at home with my parents, the 6 kids in this area plus Sarah's family, Gpa Lee and Helen, my cousin Briettney and her little family, my mom's sister Penny and her husband Ben here from Utah, and Gma Blackburn who traveled up with Danny and I. Spike came over too, and then his sister Cassie and Aunt Jean stopped by on their way home from the airport so Cassie could see Spike. It had the flavor (or rather flavors, literally) of past Thanksgivings, but definitely on a smaller scale.

I went down to the holiday parade and fireworks last night with Benji and Sam, meeting up with my friend Whitney. She goes to school in Portland and has only 7 days left and she's graduated! Lucky girl. Whit is associated with my favorite high school memories, and she's the only friend from high school I regularly keep in touch with. We always make time for each other when we're in town.

Home

2009-11-24T21:15:00.000-07:00

I'm home.

I love that feeling of being home. I love how everything looks the same (until I notice those few changes: a new chair, the new fish, a new centerpiece on the table). Everything smells right. Usually I'd say I know where everything is, but I still don't feel like I know where everything is after the remodel, despite extended visits for holidays and summer vacation. I'm here just infrequently enough to forget.

I love driving around town, how it all is so familiar and I know the pace of the town and the length of the traffic lights and the glow of the street lights and their reflections in the pavement in the high school parking lot. Like in the house, I notice changes. I saw and drove around the new traffic circle on Fourth Street and Hanley tonight. They worked on it all summer and didn't finish before I left, so that was exciting. Driving through my dark neighborhood everything looks content. Sometimes Provo neighborhoods feel worn from the march of humanity who pass through, but my home street feels quiet and personal.

I love going to stores at home. I go to the same stores in Utah, but every store has a different layout and selection wherever you go. I love knowing where I like to park, and then walking in and not needing to think about where the items I need are, but letting my feet guide me.

I love looking out the front door and seeing those houses, and looking out the back windows and seeing this mountain and those trees and that pasture and hearing the bell ring over the yards at the elementary school up the street. This is Summer; this is Thanksgiving; this is Christmas; this is Family; this is Home.

BYU Intramurals

2009-11-22T18:52:00.000-07:00

(WARNING: This is a long one, even after I edited it for length. But it's a good story.)

Intramural sports at BYU are serious business. For most students who participate, winning that championship t-shirt is more coveted than their college diploma. Look how many people get one of those a year. Chump change. Only a chosen few get one of those t-shirts and the bragging rights.

Sports offered throughout the school year range from flag football to inner-tube water polo. Teams play six or seven games during the "regular season." Stats from those games are used to rank all the teams against each other whereupon they are then divided into different divisions: Division 1 being the best teams, Division 2 next best, and so on. Then the tournament starts, aka the games that REALLY matter. The winning team of each division wins a championship, the prize being the special t-shirt.

People play intramural sports for many reasons. Some guys play to make up for lost high school glory, some girls play for the social benefit, and lots of people play just to have fun. I play because I love Ultimate Frisbee. Not that I'm particularly good at it; I just love to play. Ultimate Frisbee is a officially a boys intramural sport, but girls can play. They do this because if they made it officially co-ed, then a certain amount of boys and girls have to play at all times.

I usually play on my ward's team during fall semester, and this year was my fourth and final season to play. Despite a lot of talent, my team's regular season performance was not very impressive for various reasons, so we ended up in Division 3 (out of 4) for the tournament. That was ok with us, because it made it easier to dominate game after game once we had everyone showing up.

We soon made it to the final. We were all pumped and ready to play, but secretly a little scared. This was the fourth time my ward made it to the final game, but they had never won. And this year we went up against a team staffed by BYU track athletes, so they were all bigger, faster, and more fit in general than all of us. But we had faith and a rockstar defense.

When it comes to drama, this game will go down as one of my top three sport experiences of all time (after my team won cross country state my senior year, and Beck's pass to Harline to win the BYU-Utah rivalry game in '06). It was THAT dramatic. We started off strong. We always have a good first half, and we quickly brought the game to halftime with a score of 6-3. During the second half, though, the other team caught onto our defense and exploited our weaknesses to score 6 unanswered points. Games usually play to 12 points, and the team must win by 2 like in volleyball. If the game exceeds 45 min though, they cap the points to end the game faster. The cap is typically 2 points more than the leading team's current score, and you no longer have to win by 2. The official capped our points at 11. Gulp. I was a little worried at this point.

But then magic happened. We made some adjustments and went to work. Over and over each team would make it to the end zone and then choke, turning over the frisbee. But then we started converting those opportunities into points and suddenly we were at 10-9. Finally our man with the frisbee found one of our players in the corner of the end zone, but as he jumped to catch it he was tackled by a defender also trying to catch the frisbee. Our kid called the foul, which the other team of course contested. When that happens, the frisbee goes back to the player who threw it and basically does a replay.

After another dramatic and disappointing turnover in the end zone, one of our guys quickly knocked down a pass from the other team and we had possession again. After another agonizing minute of passing outside the end zone waiting for a clear shot inside, we found it. We all went nuts, teammates and other supporters running onto the field passing the subdued opponents and their silent fans. We slapped hands and exchanged hugs all around, took pictures, shook hands with the other team, and "rallied 'round the standard of the flag." Yes, we have a ward flag. We are that awesome.

Soon we made our way to the supplies building to pick up our shirts. As the worker read off the names from the roster, we all cheered for each other as one by one we stepped forward to request a size and accept our reward. We took a few more pictures wearing our shirts before dispersing. I had another game to go watch; my brother Danny was playing flag football that night too.

My BYU experience is complete. I already know I have a diploma coming to me, so no drama or element of surprise there. Not that I'm indifferent or un-proud of that accomplishment, but like I said before: I'm still just one of many. You don't have to be the best, coming out on top, to get one of those. Winning D3 intramural Ultimate now, that's something special.

Insomnia and Personal Reflection

2009-11-21T04:49:00.000-07:00

I came down with a nasty head cold sometime Wednesday night. I didn't go to school or work Thursday or Friday. I tried various cocktails of cold and sinus medicine and I'm happy to announce that Sudafed (with the pseudoephedrine) plus the generic brand of Zicam nasal spray finally did the trick and cleared up my sinuses and drippy nose. I was so excited to go to bed tonight and not have to breath out of my mouth, preserving my chapped lips and nose. Unfortunately, the miracle cure left me unexpectedly sleepless. I'm supposed to be getting up in about 2 hours. Actually, a sleepless night won't be that bad if the meds continue to keep me awake and alert. I have a full day of exciting events planned that I don't want to miss out on.

One of my very best friends ever, Diane, is getting married tomorrow. Actually today, in 5 hours. We were roommates in Nauvoo. Of the four girls in room 317 from that semester, she's the first to get married. It's a little weird to have our old quartet finally branching out, but I'm SO excited for her. I've seen her through the ups and downs of several relationships over the last four years, and I am pleased to announce I'm fully supportive of her decision to marry Garrett. He's a great guy and absolutely deserves her.

I'm also super excited because she is the first of my close friends to get married geographically close enough that I can attend the festivities! Timing, funding, and distance prevented me from going to any others. I can't attend the ceremony since I'm not yet endowed and she's getting sealed in the Manti Temple, but I'll be as close as I can and waiting outside.

Students from my Semester in Nauvoo always refer to each other as our Nauvoo "family" regardless of how close we were during the semester. We still maintain active relationships four years later, using a website to communicate big news and post pictures. Many of us still check it every day. People ask me a lot about my favorite parts of my semesters abroad, and I think they're often disappointed when I say "the people I was there with." But there's something special about friends we make during formative times in our lives. It's hard to explain, and I usually just say "s/he's a Nauvoo friend" hoping that the right sense of platonic affection we all maintain for each other comes across. They really do feel like a second family of brothers and sisters.

I'm so blessed to have had that experience in Nauvoo, and to have formed those relationships. They're the kind of friends you make for forever: who don't care if you call at 1am, who hurt with you when bad things happen, who celebrate with you when good things happen, who make a pretty good substitute when your family is 800 miles away, and who never stop caring--really caring--about you no matter the difference of space or time or circumstance. They are friends worth keeping. I have 120 such friends. How did I get so lucky?

Redirection

2009-11-13T23:46:00.000-07:00

I felt a need to mix this blog up a little bit. Y'know, like the urge you get to just rearrange furniture once in a while? One of my professors would call it fixing the chi. Whatever the reason, I just suddenly felt an urge to purge myself of cutesy pre-fabricated designs and go minimalist. Not void, just minimalist, like Mies. So here, like 860-880 Lake Shore Drive, I strip it down to the basics and building materials. Mies actually coined the phrase "less is more." Bet you didn't know a real someone actually constructed that maxim.

Anyway, my life feels so full that I don't feel a need to flesh it out in digital non-space. This blog is for chronicling my adventures, not simulating my personality.

Excuse me now while I go live my life.

A good day

2009-11-11T20:55:00.001-07:00

What an awesome day! We honored our veterans today, including my grandpa. I took my second round of midterms last week (both on the same day, for the second time. ugh.) and got them back today. I got A's on both after precious little time to study! Then my intramural Ultimate Frisbee team played in the quarterfinal round today and dominated! And I wore one of my favorite shirts.

Rocked my tests, rocked Ultimate...basically I rocked at life today.

Identifiably me

2009-10-16T18:09:00.001-06:00

Today I had an experience I haven't had since coming to college. Walking to class from work with a coworker today I passed by an apartment complex. Two guys come walking and talking out of the complex area as we passed by. Suddenly from behind me I hear someone say "Hey are you a Lee?" I quickly turn around and stare bewilderingly.

"Yeah. What are you?" I ask. I didn't recognize him, but if this kid knows my family he has to be from some family I know, and if he called me a Lee me MUST be from Idaho.

"My name is Caleb ([?] I think it was Caleb; it was a quick interaction and I'm not good with names). I'm a Knight."

"Ah! OK," I reply with understanding. I don't know this kid but I was right, I do know the family.

"Wow, you guys all look alike. I knew you must have been a Lee," he says. We exchange a few civilities then part ways with a "Nice to see you in Provo!"

It's not like I've never had a conversation like this before. Growing up the sixth sibling in ten years to go through the same public school system people often asked if I was a Lee. I just haven't heard it since I came to college so it was a little surreal. Kind of like de ja vu, but not really.

So, what gives it away? Good looks? Amazing athleticism? Killer charm? Humility? I know, I know, I'm not that dense. I'm fully aware that 5/8 of us are tall, skinny redheads with big mouths that stick out more than an albino at a Black Student Union meeting. But I can dream, can't I? It's not always flattering to be told I look like boys. Yeah, I know they don't mean to say that I look like I am a boy, but that's what it sounds like when they say "you look like your brother(s)." No offense, guys.

That's my story. Time to get to writing things I get a grade for.

Warm-up

2009-10-08T22:21:00.001-06:00

I'm in my thesis writing class right now where I take information I gathered over the summer and try to make sense of it in a 30+ page paper. My teacher recommends that we do a little bit of informal warm-up writing to get us in the right mind before we start into our paper writing. Maybe I'll blog more often for my "warm-ups." This is a warm up. Now what to talk about?.... I'll take suggestions from anyone who cares about reading this.

For today, I'll introduce you to my roommates. I'm up to roommates #24, 25, and 26, so I think I'm getting good at being a roommate with lots of different kinds of people. For always living with random people, I've been pretty fortunate to always get great roommates.

My room-roommate's name is Sami and she is super cute. I feel like she's a little pixie or doll because she's petite and has cute, short blond hair and a beautiful smile. I feel huge next to her. She's easy to live with and always makes sure to ask me how my day went. Best of all she likes it when I get my nerd on and talk about anthropology. I think I've actually convinced her to get her minor in it! Wait, actually best of all she volunteers to give me back rubs! Those of you that know me well know that I am the biggest fan of backrubs ever!

I was acquainted with my roommate Kyrie from when I lived in this building before I went to Jerusalem. She's the only person I've lived with that I knew before we lived together. She makes great lasagna and always invites me when she cooks for her dinner group.

The last roommate is Jackie and she's the first red-head I've ever lived with in college! She's like the "mom" of the apartment. She always has great advice and fights to let us let her clean the kitchen. I don't mind it at all :). She also voluntarily gives me shoulder rubs too which I will never say no to.

All in all we have an 'appy lil 'ome here in Provo. Life stays busy but it's good. I think I have 199 days till graduation. Jackie the accountant keeps track for me because she's graduating too (with her masters of accounting). Happy October.

Hidden Treasures of Knowledge.

2009-09-22T00:22:00.000-06:00

I just skimmed through a term paper from last year to find some citations I wanted to use again. I'm pleasantly surprised and a little impressed at what I wrote. It's not like I forgot what I wrote about, but I didn't remember the particulars since it was written in the mush of final classes last spring. Now that I've read it 5 months removed, I feel more qualified to judge the quality. I won't lie. It's a dang good paper, and interesting too. That can't be said for all anthropological theory term papers. I wrote about the theoretical implications of what constitutes a home, why we feel the home is part of identity, how it figures into human and non-human relationships, and why that is all pertinent to why we bring people to our homes when we want to get to know them better. I kind of enjoyed reading it again. I'm so proud of myself that I'd post it here for you to read, but it's almost 3,000 words and a bit long for a humble blog. Just take satisfaction in the fact that I'm satisfied with my effort. I'm glad about that. It gives me hope in my ability to write as one having authority to form a legit opinion based on my own primary and secondary research. Hope is a nice thing to possess as I brace myself to begin actually composing my undergraduate thesis paper based on my qualitative research from this summer in southern Utah.

Oh, by the way got an A in that class.

Ice Cold Lemonade. No, seriously.

2009-09-13T22:18:00.001-06:00

*note: there's another post below this one that I wrote first. I'm finally catching up on life.

I have a good friend (actually a buddy from my semester at Nauvoo) we call Jared W who gets great ideas. I feel fortunate just to be able to participate in some of his schemes. This time it was setting up a free lemonade stand on top of Mt. Timpanogus. Why? Well, why not? Jared's philosophy is that any place can be bettered with a lemonade stand. I'm inclined to agree. Besides, what sounds better than an ice cold glass of lemonade after a 6 mile hike and a 4000 foot elevation change? Nothing. My roommate Jackie and I both happen to independently know this kid, so we both got to participate. We set out early Labor Day morning with several other friends and had an enjoyable hike up the mountain in the fresh morning air.

Near the top of Timp is a glacier lake called Emerald Lake that is super cold year round. After reaching it we selected an open area on a small peninsula that juts out into the lake and set up camp.

Jared W and his brother came prepared with a sign, 6 containers of Country Time Lemonade mix, plastic cups, pitchers, wooden spoon, and water filters. We all brought some food to share too including some delicious cookies Jackie brought. We all took turns pumping water and preparing the lemonade.

At first the response wasn't too overwhelming because despite the warm sunshine a bitterly cold wind was blowing so we had a lot more requests for hot chocolate. We had to huddle for warmth ourselves.
As the afternoon wore on and the wind died down, we got more "customers." I think some were a bit wary and suspicious, but most thought it was a great idea and greatly appreciated the refreshment. We actually made a few friends that hung around for a while.
After a while I decided to hike to the saddle with a few other people which is where one can overlook all of Utah Valley (the lake is on the back side of the mountain). All the way up to the saddle we'd tell people to stop and get free lemonade at the lake, and most people didn't believe us. They'd say things like "Yeah, and there's hamburgers at the summit too" or "There's soft serve ice cream at the saddle." We did our best to convince them but we can't help if they choose not to believe. We saw mountain goats along the way.

We didn't have time to get all the way to the summit, but it was still pretty cool to be that high up in the world. We stayed for 10-15 min and took fun pictures before we had to start our hike back down the mountain.

This picture was taken with my phone, so that's why it's a little grainy.

Jared didn't accompany us to the saddle, but he reported great success back at the lake. We figured we ended up making about 15 gallons of lemonade altogether, and served at least 150 people. All in all, I'd say it was a good day, and the perfect way to end the summer.

Hello again

2009-08-16T19:00:00.000-06:00

Summer in Idaho is great. I wish it was still July and I had a month more of fun to enjoy. I had a lot of fun seeing lots of family and friends during the brief couple of months I had to be home this year. When I first got home I spent a blissful week not working. That weekend my brother and his family came to visit from Colorado for a few days before the Lee Family Reunion over the Fourth of July. The reunion was hot and fun. I got plenty of rafting in on the Clark Fork River this year as I was neither recovering from surgery nor suffering from debilitating injury--yet. I did end the reunion with a bang...and a skinned knee, scarred face, bruised hip, scraped foot, and sore muscles. My consolation is the assurance that running into that clothesline with my cousin looked AWESOME. Only five or ten of Grandpa's posterity was missing from the reunion. Josh and Chiu-Yi couldn't come because Josh has been having some health issues, and my cousins Kristen and Jimmy's families respectively were unable to attend. We all had a lot of fun.

I spent the rest of the summer working at Dad's dental office again. It's nice to have a job whenever I go home if I need it. I stayed active hanging out with friends, playing frisbee, and attending single adult activities with my single's ward. My brothers and I also crawled our way through the Lord of the Rings movies. We never did finish the last one. The summer ended with the North Idaho Fair and the world famous Elephant Ear booth. I only worked it 2 days this year because I had to leave to come back to Provo in the middle, but it's always a fun time seeing cousins and friends.

Yes, I'm back in Provo for my last year of my undergraduate education. I moved back into the ward I lived in before I went to Jerusalem, so it's been a lot of fun seeing old friends and making new ones. I have great roommates too. I knew one of the girls from the ward before, and the other two are new to me. The football season is off to a great start and if you haven't heard, BYU is #7 in the country right now! Boo-yah! Provo went nuts after we beat Oklahoma: people driving around honking, cheering without restraint, spontaneous partying in the streets till the wee hours of the morning. It was great to be part of it. Our first home game is next week and I'm excited.

That's all for now. Life isn't super exciting right now, but it's good. My title claims this is about my adventures too. With a long semester of intense academia ahead of me that you probably don't want to hear me complain about, I'll try to keep future posts restricted to true adventures for the sake of entertainment. I always appreciate reading a fun blog post.

Home Sweet Home

2009-06-26T13:54:00.000-06:00

After spending two months looking at this:

I understandably get very excited when I start to see this:

as I wend my way back to the Inland Northwest.

Please excuse my sub-par camera phone image, but I think it does a sufficient job illustrating the difference in water supply between southern Utah and western Montana/North Idaho.

Actually I'm being a little unfair because Utah has been getting an unusual amount of rainfall this June so it's actually a bit greener than the above picture (which is not current), but Orderville is still the desert. No matter how green the grass and sage brush and juniper trees, it's still just grass and sage brush and juniper. I always love the moment when I'm driving through Montana and I realize I'm surrounded by real trees again.

Tribute to my #1 Reader

2009-05-24T21:07:00.000-06:00

Chris and Debbie Copstead, Thanksgiving break '08 at their
surprise 30th wedding anniversary party

My number one reader, Debbie Copstead, passed away on May 10 from ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. She and her husband Chris have been great friends to me since I became involved with Coeur d'Alene's Junior Miss program as a junior in high school. Chris was committee co-chair and Debbie was a committee member. For my senior project in high school I volunteered on the committee too and got to know them better. Debbie is one of my biggest fans and always made sure to tell me she was reading my blog and looking at all my pictures. The knowledge that I needed to give her new material was one of the reasons I made sure to post occasionally, even if I didn't think anything worth writing about was happening in my life! Debbie was diagnosed a few years ago with ALS. The illness slowly took away her strength of body but never her mind. It also took away her ability to speak, but we all know I can talk enough for the both of us! She'd write me questions and I'd talk an hour, and before I'd leave she'd tell me "I love you" in sign language. I always visit the Copsteads every time I'm home for vacation. Every visit Debbie downplayed her own trials, excited to know what I was doing in my life and how my family was doing. She always remembered to ask how my brother Scott was feeling. When introducing me to people she always told them I was Coeur d'Alene's prettiest Junior Miss. She always knew how to make people feel good about themselves! I'm sad I didn't get to go right home to Idaho this summer so I could visit with her one more time, but I find comfort in knowing that she's now in a place where she can talk and laugh and live free of her tired body. Someday I'll catch up with her on the other side and we'll have the rest of eternity to talk. Until then, let me know if anyone else is reading this blog. Debbie doesn't need it anymore now that she can watch what I'm doing!

******************

As for an update on my doings, the research project is coming along. I'm learning a lot. Things are coming together a little differently than I expected, but in a good way. I'll have a lot of good material to use for writing my thesis in the fall. Time is passing quickly and I'm over halfway done. Four weeks down, three to go. Life here isn't as secluded than I thought it would be. I've had the internet to use and we've gone somewhere every weekend so I get caught up on all my phone messages then since I don't get cell service here. We've gone to Saint George for a couple of weddings and a high school graduation for cousins, and one weekend we went up north for my uncle's last concert before he retires as a music teacher. My mom came down for the concert and one of the weddings. It was fun to see her.

We have no more trips planned for now. Maybe I'll get more work done on the weekends! If y'all wonder what I'm actually doing, I spend time each day observing everyday life around her and conducting formal interviews with individuals around town about their lives and their impressions of Orderville. I spend the rest of the day typing up my notes (about 25 single spaced pages a week). All this takes up 30-40 hours a week. It's not bad, just a lot of time in front of a computer. I'll be glad when I'm really out of school for the summer!

Another year gone by

2009-04-27T12:35:00.000-06:00

I did it! It's over! Finished! SCHOOOOOL'S OUT FOR THE SUMMER! Sort of. My research project is technically "school" and I had to pay tuition fees so I can email reports to a teacher once a week. I do get school credit, so I guess that's what I'm really paying for.

I survived my finals. I got 13 pages done of the big paper by Thursday before finals started, then I took a break to write my 10 page paper on Friday and Saturday for my other class because it was due Monday morning. I turned it in and spent the rest of Monday finishing my final art project and then turned that in. Tuesday I wrote another 13+ pages for the big paper, spent Wednesday proofreading, and turned it in that afternoon. Yes, that means it was 26+ pages. Longest paper of my life. It could have (and should have if I had worked on it all semester like I was supposed to... oops) gone longer, but I had to turn it in. I'm sure it was enough to satisfy the requirements for the paper, but it could have been better. Oh well. It's kind of empowering, though, to write that much and have something to say the whole time. I didn't have room to BS anything. Most of the time I was trying to figure out what information I should downsize. I'm happy this school year is over. It was hard. When I finished my papers I rewarded myself with 2 new CDs I've had my eye on for a while. Small consolation for two semesters from h@*%, but they make me happy.

I am finally installed as a resident of Orderville. Mostly. I moved my stuff in, but I have yet to unpack. I hate unpacking. I don't have to officially start working on my project till tomorrow, so I'll spend today getting situated. I've ordered a voice recorder and I need to learn how to use my new printer/scanner/copier. I think Grandma and I will take a walk up to the Post Office later to make sure they know I'll have mail coming to her PO Box so it doesn't get returned to the sender. Oh the excitement of a small town!

If you are ever in the neighborhood, please stop in and say hi! I don't get cell service here, but I can use the neighbor's internet occasionally so you can email or call Grandma's land line.

I'm so close I can taste it...

2009-04-11T15:33:00.001-06:00

Only two more days of classes. Then only 3 "finals". I insert quotations because one final is simply submitting a paper by the end of the day, for another I actually have to gather with the class, but it is to submit my paper and read others' papers, and for the last one my art class is having a party and picking up our graded assignments. All other classes either don't have a final or I don't have to take it. Sounds easy enough, but actually these two papers I have to get done are beasts and I have barely started them. Eek! But they will get finished well enough to pass and then I'm off to southern Utah through June. I'm conducting my oral history project for my major in Orderville, UT, during the spring term. It's still schoolwork, but it'll be a change of pace for sure.

I can't wait to finally be ALL done with this school year. It's been a hard one. I'm excited to come back to Idaho, mostly because I really need a hair cut! Jen Stone is the only person I allow to touch my hair and she's in Coeur d'Alene. Oh yeah, and I'm excited to see friends and family too...haha. My whole immediate family will be home this summer during the bi-annual Lee Family Reunion this July on the Salmon River. My brother Josh and his wife Chiu-Yi are coming from Taiwan. My brother Luke and his family will be there and will bring the newest member of the family (his wife Janna is having a baby in June), Benji will come from CA, Sarah from WA, Danny will be back from Mexico, I'll be home from UT, and of course Mom and Dad and the little boys will be there too. That's just from my family! Dad is the baby and he has 3 other siblings who will be there with all of their families too.

K, no more blogging. I really need to get to work. I haven't accomplished much on this paper today, and I really want to get it done. I promised myself a long-coveted Sara Barielles CD when I'm finished! Now that's incentive.

Spring is in the air

2009-03-29T21:40:00.000-06:00

Spring is trying her best to break through. Last week it got up to 70 degrees. This week it snowed. Hopefully the sun comes back soon!

Life is still crazy busy, but rather than detail the stresses of my life which will only make me feel worse, I will only tell about the good stuff that has happened recently because there has been lots of that too.

Every year on March 14 my friend Jared W hosts a Pi(e) Party (3/14=3.14=pi). People bring pies which are then judged and awarded for different categories. Now, I have participated in quite a few of these parties and I've consistently had a good showing, but I've never won. My strawberry pie took third a couple of times, and the time I added other berries to it got me a second place finish. This year I was in it to win it. I went with a new recipe: Carmel Apple Pie. I found the recipe online a long time ago and saved it. It did not fail me, and I won first place overall! I was so proud. I wish I had got a picture from it but I forgot. Just know that it looked and tasted phenomenal. I'll post the recipe at some point.

A couple of weeks ago some boys decided to get people on more dates, so they took ties from all the single guys from church and had all the single girls choose an anonymous tie from the pile. Whoever's tie she chose was committed to taking her out on a date before the end of the semester. Being single, I participated. Last weekend I went on my "tie date" with my date Jeremy and two other couples. It was so much fun! We all had a blast playing like little kids the whole evening at Jeremy's family's beautiful home in Sandy, UT. Our activities included:

Dinner at Pita Pit
Girl Scout cookies
CRUD (a game played with a pool table)
Ping-Pong
Foosball
Sardines
Boys vs Girls keep-away
Indiana Jones movie in the theater room
Jumping off furniture onto giant bean bags
Sliding down stairs
Talking with good friends
Sleeping (not done as a group activity, don't worry! It was too late to drive home safely so we stayed the night and us girls shared a king size bed!)
Pancake breakfast

(remember you can click on pictures to see them bigger)

I had a lot of fun hanging out with friends and getting to know them better outside of church activities. I am surrounded by great people here.

The fun continued that weekend on Saturday. The weather was great and warm and I went running for the first time since last summer probably! I didn't last too long but it felt good to get out there. Afterward I spread out a blanket at the park and did homework in the sunshine. I got a little sunburn on my face but it was worth it! That night I attended a volleyball game with some friends, then made my award-winning pie again and had a little dance party in my apartment. We have good times.

This weekend was pretty stellar too. Friday night I went to a indoor water park with my old roommate Janae, and last night I went to the Festival of Colors. It's a festival to welcome in spring that they observe every spring at the Hare Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork, UT. It is celebrated through song, theatrical performance, the burning of a witch effigy, and rounded off with everyone throwning colored chalk dust at each other.

This was the first year I was able to attend and I was pretty excited. I rounded up a car-full of friends and headed up to it. We got well-covered in dust and I crowd-surfed for the first time! I lost my cell phone for a while in the process, but I eventually got it back when a nice person found it uncrushed and returned it when we called it. That's what I call good karma!

After the festival we went up to the house where my friend Missy is living and went swimming in the indoor pool (after showering, of course). It was a nice way to wind down the exciting evening.

More Birthday and a pARRRty!

2009-03-06T09:15:00.000-07:00

I got up a little earlier than I had to today to finish some reading, but it's done and with the little bit of extra (and by extra, I mean I don't feel like doing anything else I should) time, I've decided to blog for Debbie. Debbie Copstead is probably my most faithful blog follower and I feel guilty when I don't keep it up for her!

I came down with a killer cold right about the time I posted last. It was a pretty miserable week. The medicine I had wasn't very effective most of the time. Then it disrupted my sleep. On top of being sick and tired I started and finished a project proposal one day because the people I was supposed to volunteer for the project never contacted me back so I had to come up with something else in a day. Good think I was sick and felt justified in missing my classes that day anyway. Oh, and on Thursday I realized a big paper I thought was due the next week was due the next day. Once again, maybe being sick was a mixed blessing! I didn't work Thursday and Friday because I started coughing and I couldn't breath well, so I stayed home and wrote the paper. It wasn't my best work, but it got done. And then I ended up with a good grade! Now I wonder about my teacher's judgment...

As harrowing as the week was, the weekend was great. My parents were in town for the Utah Dental Convention, so Friday evening I drove up to Salt Lake and we went out to Tucano's for my birthday dinner. Uncle Don and Aunt D'Ann were in SLC that night too, so they joined us.

I stayed overnight with Mom and Dad at the hotel. Yet again, I did not sleep, but I was starting to get used to insomnia. I got some homework done around 3am. The next day we took a walk to Temple Square and then I took them to the airport. I spent the rest of the day in Salt Lake visiting friends and walking in the sunshine of a beautiful day. My cold was beginning to subside, so everything was feeling beautiful :-).

The next week was fabulous. I had two projects due that I hadn't started because of the stuff from the previous week, but one project had the deadline moved to the next Monday, and I got an extension on the other. Then the weather warmed up and the sun was out all week. My ward had a Pirate Party that weekend complete with treasure hunt, costume contest, and pirate ship regatta. It was a lot of fun!

I named it "El Barco de Muerte"

Midterms are over (I have no midterm tests, but lots of papers) and things seem kind of calm right now. This weekend for church we have Stake Conference and Elder Ballard is coming from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Should be good. And spring is coming! I can feel it!

Happenin' Happenings

2009-02-17T17:54:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I'm already half way through February! Yikes! Every semester passes faster than the last (side note: someday I will be done with school and won't measure time by semesters. weird thought). I just remembered that I have fast internet and I can actually upload pictures to my posts with ease. I'll start doing that. In Israel the bandwidth was too small and it was very difficult to download pictures, hence the links to my photo albums on Facebook.

My life has been more the same: reading, writing, and fun when I can fit it in. One exciting thing was my computer ceased to work. It just stopped working-- no blue screen of death, just blankness. Fortunately it was still under warranty. I had to send it to the company and get the hard drive replaced. I thankfully received an external hard drive for Christmas and had just finished backing up all my files onto it--over 30 gigs of stuff from Jerusalem alone!-- two weeks before the machine died. I was without a computer for about 3 weeks, so now I've been trying to get all my software back on it. It's annoying, but at least it works right and I didn't have to pay for it!

My old Nauvoo roommate Abbie stayed with me the night before she entered the Missionary Training Center here in Provo. She is headed to Cleveland, OH. I'm so excited for her! That mission includes Kirtland and a lot of historical Church sites that we toured during our semester in Nauvoo. We went bowling the evening she was here with several of friends from her home and Nauvoo, then had ice cream afterward at the Creamery. We met up with Diane, another Nauvoo roommate, at the Creamery and for the first time since we left Nauvoo over 3 years ago, our whole room was reunited!

Room 317 Reunited! (L-R: Abbie, Sadie, Janae, Diane)

I'm so happy for Abbie and I know that she will be a great missionary. And it wasn't that sad saying goodbye because we only see each other every year to two anyway!

Another exciting event was my birthday on February 11! I love birthdays. A lot. I'm not sure why; maybe because my family was good at making it a special day. This year it was on a Wednesday, and unfortunately Wednesday is my longest day in terms of classes. But I don't have to work on Wednesdays, so makes it more tolerable. I start at 8am and get out at 8pm, with two long breaks in the middle of the day. I wasn't sure if I'd get to do anything special because of that, and because this is the first year in Provo that I didn't have any family around to celebrate with me. (I didn't have family with me last year in Israel, obviously, but that was to be expected). Danny is spending the semester in Mexico. Luckily, I have amazing friends! My old Nauvoo roommate Diane called me around 6am to convince me to let her take me to breakfast before my class. My roommates made me a poster and stuck candy all over it and left it outside my door to find in the morning. Then that evening after my class I was supposed to go to dinner with Diane and the other old roommate Janae, and then have cake at my apartment afterward with a few friends. The girls made other plans for me though! They planned a surprise party for me at Janae's apartment with lots of my Nauvoo friends plus a few other people. My parents sent me flowers and most of my family and several friends called to wish me a happy day.

22 candles!

The birthday gang

The celebration continued on Thursday when my buddy Eric cooked me and my roommate breakfast. My family's tradition on birthdays is breakfast in bed, and he knew that's what I miss most on my birthday when I'm not home, so he did the next best thing: pancakes the next day in the kitchen. Did I mention I have the best friends ever?

The pancakes on the plate read "Happy Birthday"

The celebration continues more this week. My dad attends the Utah Dental Convention every year in February and this year Mom is coming with him. I'm going up to Salt Lake City on Friday to spend the evening and go out to dinner for my birthday (the other thing I miss most about birthdays at home).

The other exciting things in my life include being without gas in our apartment for two days (the temperature got down to 48 degrees--inside), making it to the quarter finals in the Paso Doble with my ballroom partner at the mock dance competition against the other dance classes, the last of my original roommates from this year moving out for a job in CA (a sad thing, not exciting), and spending part of President's Day weekend with friends at a cabin up Spanish Fork Canyon. All in all February has been a good month, per usual.

I'd better get back to work on my homework. I slacked off over the long weekend and now I have to do double duty. I'm getting a cold, have a couple of projects to get started and finished this week, and a mound of reading that I will probably finish only a meager portion of, with or without slacking. Wish me luck!

ps. I updated my photo album links

Goodbye 2008

2008-12-31T23:21:00.000-07:00

One last post for the year. My Christmas vacation is fast coming to an end. I fly back to Utah on Friday. It has been lovely to have a couple of weeks to relax and not worry about homework or reading or papers. They'll all be reappearing shortly, but I'm fully enjoying their absence.

As you can see, I changed things up a bit on here. I like to switch things around now and again. I don't have a house where I can rearrange furniture, so this will have to do. I'm going to switch up some pictures and update it a bit more, so check it again soon.

Christmas itself was nice. It's a lot smaller affair than it used to be now that all the cousins are married with kids and inlaws to please. It was just our family plus Grandpa Lee and Grandma Helen for dinner this year. Aunt Jean and Uncle Steve stopped by later in evening for a visit too. We all ate good food and watched Wall-E, one of our family Christmas presents. One of the happiest gifts we received was the news that my brother Luke and his wife Janna are expecting a fourth child in June! They don't find out the sex beforehand, but we are all hoping for a girl! After 3 cute boys, Janna is a bit outnumbered. It's time for some catch-up!

It has snowed almost every single day this whole break. I think I heard that all in all, we have received somewhere around 50 inches in the last two weeks. The snow has been interspersed with some rain, so it's only about 2 1/2 feet deep now, but that is still a lot of white stuff. I'm thankful to be from a place that doesn't have to worry about drought!

This has been quite the year. I've set foot in 5 countries, made 80+ new best friends, had a dozen or more close friends get married (but couldn't attend any of the weddings- curse my poverty!), lived with 7 different and new roommates (with the 8th moving in by Monday), work at 3 different jobs, wrote 100+ pages in writing assignments this fall, read five times that amount, go through too many strange ailments to count, and had a tonsillectomy. No need for any pear trees thank you, I have enough to worry about!

It's been a crazy year for me and I'm sure it has been for most of you as well. But it's been a good year if we look for the right kinds of things in it. I've lived in the Holy Land, saw the pyramids in the rain (that only happens about once every 4 years!), learned a lot, made amazing friends, had bunches of happy reunions, a new nephew born, swing dancing on the weekends, and safe travels through it all.

May we all bring our best and be able to deal with the worst as we enter a new year. Thanks for caring to follow me along in my life as I know it.

Life just got adventurous

2008-12-21T18:30:00.001-07:00

Wow! Check it out-- two posts in one month!

THE END HAS COME! No, not that one. But falls semester is over and school is out! I had the best finals week ever. I only had four classes that had anything happen during finals week. I had one easy test and three writing assignments to submit. I had to finish the writing for two of the writing assignments the week before, so I just had to do some revising before I turned them in as my finals. That left only one big theory paper to worry about writing and I got it done in good time. As much as I hated my two 18 page theory papers this semester, I totally feel empowered to know that I really can write that much and have something to say the whole time. I wrote more pages this semester for all my classes combined than I ever have in my life. It's validating to know that I must know what I'm talking about or else I would have run out of things to say a long time ago.

All my finals were done on Wednesday and I prepared to return home on Thursday. I stayed up late packing and then I had to wake up at 4am since I had an early flight. It took me a little longer than I expected to head to the airport, and I arrived at the bag check counter at about 6:10 and my flight was supposed to leave at 6:30. Yikes! The lines were all super long like I haven't seen in years. Think post-9/11. I'd never make my flight. With the encouragement of fellow travelers, I boldly walked to the front of the line and plead for mercy. The travelers tehre let me cut to check my bag. The security line extended clear across the airport, so again I walked up as near as I could to the front of the line and asked to cut since my flight was already boarding and I really wanted to get home. A nice man let me cut there too. I felt bad cutting in front of so many people who had been waiting a long time, but I did NOT want to get stuck in Utah and complicate my life.

I hurried through the terminal and made it to my plane in time. Turns out they then decided to delay the flight for 20 minutes to allow people stuck in the security line to make it. Soon we were off and had an uneventful flight to Seattle.

It was snowing in Seattle. A large winter storm had descended upon the entire Inland Northwest. We sat and waited as airline employees told us that our flight was delayed as we waited for clearance from Spokane. Finally, they announced the flight was canceled. Nothing was flying in or out of Spokane. I jumped into the long line at the counter to try and find a spot on a later flight and simultaneously called Southwest on my phone to see which could help me faster. After 15 minutes I got an agent on the phone and she got me onto the 1:20pm flight that day. All these activities were interspersed with calls to Mom and Sarah because her father-in-law was going to pick me up at the airport. Sarah couldn't because they were snowed in at the house and Dave was the only one who could safely get out in his truck.

I killed time by eating some food and watching a movie on my laptop. I periodically checked the monitors to make sure my later flight was still on schedule. About an hour before we were to leave I checked again and the flight was canceled. I hurried back to my gate and got in an even longer line and on the phone again. There was one more flight that evening I could catch. After 20 minutes on the phone I finally got an agent, but she told me that their computers were down and she could do nothing for me; I'd have to change my flight at the airport. I don't know why the call took 20 minutes if that's all she was telling people. In the calls back and forth to home, my mom mentioned that my cousin Dusty's wife Angie was in Seattle and preparing to drive to Coeur d'Alene to meet up with Dusty either that day or the next. I gave her a call and informed her of my predicament and she became my plan B.

After waiting in line almost and hour, an airline employee came down the line to answer any quick questions we had. Someone asked her about Spokane and she announced that ALL flights to Spokane were cancelled that day and they were concentrating only on passengers that needed to go somewhere else, namely Boise and Las Vegas. Basically, if you need to get to Spokane, get out of line and don't even bother asking for help for a while until everyone else was helped. All our baggage was dropped off at baggage claim. I called Angie back as I headed to find my bag and we decided I'd come to her apartment and we'd figure stuff from there. I was worried my bag never made it to Seattle since I had checked in so late, but I eventually found it.

Angie gave me instructions on which buses to find to get me close to where she was in the city. I've never taken US public transportation before, so this was an adventure. I found the right one and hopped on. It's only 15 or so miles to downtown Seattle. It took us over 3 1/2 hours. The driver decided to take an alternative route and avoid the freeway. Bad idea. With all the snowfall traffic was horrible and often at a standstill. The first three miles took the first three hours. Finally the snow had stopped and traffic finally opened up a little. I made friends with the lady next to me on the bus. She borrowed my phone to call her boss and she told me how to navigate myself with the bus system. We had lots of interesting characters come on and off our bus. People would get on because they were stuck in the snow, then ride a while and then asked to be let off since they could walk faster than we were driving. A little girl across from me sat and played around crossing her eyes the whole time. And I mean the WHOLE time. I thought she'd get tired of it. Then I thought, well maybe she is just permanently cross-eyed, but I couldn't tell.

We finally made it to the station downtown and I caught a bus taking me up to the UofW campus. This ride was less eventful and a lot faster. It dropped me off very near where Dusty and Angie live, and Angie came and picked me up. I felt bad making her wait for me when she could have already left for Idaho, but then a guy on bus #2 informed me that all the passes had been closed all day because of the storm, so I didn't feel so bad knowing she couldn't have left anyway.

Once we get to the apartment and I am able to charge my phone so it doesn't die on me, I call Southwest again. This time they tell me that all flights to Spokane are booked through Sunday. Guess I'd be driving with Angie! We ordered a pizza and watched Gonzaga crush TSU the rest of the evening. The next day I mercifully slept in, then we packed up and headed out at noon. The passes were open again and the weather was clear. There was some ice and compacted snow over Snoqualmie, but we had no trouble but a gimpy wiper blade on the passenger side. Good thing I wasn't the one driving! After Ellensberg the roads were completely clear, and we made it to Coeur d'Alene safely and soundly. And that's how I made it home for this Christmas break. Took a little longer than I thought it would, but I made it.

Some may wonder what happened to Danny. He is going on a study abroad to Mexico next semester so he has to drive all his stuff home. He needed to stay a few extra days too, to get the last of his paperwork done. He is supposed to drive home tomorrow, Monday, but I'm not sure how that will work with another storm coming. Hopefully he makes it home by Christmas!

About that first storm: it was a recordbreaker. It snowed 30 inches in 24 hours in Spokane and Coeur d'Alene. The previous record had been set in the 70's and was only 13 inches in 24 hours. It has been bitterly cold, so the snow is the fine, powdery kind. The snow has settled in the last couple days so it isn't as deep as it was, but there is still about 2 feet with more to come in the next week. This is the most snow I have seen since I was a little girl. I missed all the big snow accumulation last year since I was in Israel having the mildest winter of my life. It's fun to have so much snow again and have a decidedly white Christmas.

So that's the last week of my life. It was long, but finally exciting. It makes up for the rest of my semester when all I had to write about was how I slept, ate, went to class, went to work, and did homework. Stay tuned; maybe I'll write again before the end of the year!

I can see the end from here!

2008-12-11T21:15:00.000-07:00

CLASSES ARE DONE! But I'm not quite finished. Tomorrow and the next day are our study days, and finals run Monday through Friday of next week. I'll be done by Wednesday and I head home early on Thursday. This semester has passed by so fast! Probably because I was so busy. Time flies whether or not you are having fun.

Thanksgiving was fun. We didn't have school Wed-Fri, and I only had one class on Tuesday, so I skipped it and went home on Monday night. I only had one class on Monday too and I would have just missed that one as well, gone home even earlier and no harm done, but I had to turn in a big paper that day in class. I made pumpkin pies and a cheesecake for the big dinner that was at our house this year. Mom cooked a turkey in the oven and Scottie cooked one in the smoker. We had all the rest of the best fixin's too. Despite the fact that most of my cousins are married and live elsewhere now, we still had a good turnout for Thanksgiving.

I got sick the day after Thanksgiving. I think my body was just shutting down after being under so much stress all semester. I wasn't sick too long and I felt fine by the time I went home, but it was convenient that I was sick at home and not while I was at school.

While home I got to hang out with with my niece Kyla and new nephew Carson who was born right before I left for school. Kyla turned two the Saturday after Thanksgiving. She is so smart and so much fun. I'm basically her favorite. She'd follow me around and always wanted to see what I was doing.

Mom participated in her second community Messiah concert while we were home. It was a nice way to start the Christmas season. After the concert I stopped by and visited with my friends Chris and Debbie Copstead. I worked with the Copsteads when I served on the Coeur d'Alene Junior Miss committee my senior year of high school. I always try and visit whenever I'm home in Idaho. Their children had organized a surprise party that weekend to celebrate their parents' 30th wedding anniversary and I made it near the end. Debbie is one of my most faithful readers and I promised her that I'd update my blog soon. Sorry it took me so long, but here it is!

Sorry my recent blogs are so boring. My life isn't very exciting right now. Mostly work and school. I make time for something fun on the weekends usually. I'm excited that basketball season has started. The BYU mens team is undefeated so far this season and currently have the longest home winning streak in the country. I have never seen them lose at home, and I'm in my fourth year! This weekend will be fun. A favorite former roommate is getting married right after Christmas and I'm helping to throw a bridal shower for her on Saturday. We are also having our work Christmas party and then my church ward is having a catered dinner for our closing social that evening. Sundays are always the best part of my weekends. No homework, not stress, just a day of needed rest.

We are supposed to get real snow this weekend. Finally! We've only had a couple of flurries so far this season. It's hard to feel like it's really Christmas until it snows. I'm glad I get home a whole week before Christmas, I'll actually have time to work on presents this year!

I hope you are all safe and well. I'll see a lot of you soon!

Free Fallin'....

2008-11-09T14:36:00.000-07:00

Time for the monthly report. I can't believe it is already November. That means Thanksgiving is coming soon! But that also means my 15 page midterm paper for my anthropological theory is coming due the day I leave. Eek! Gotta get it done.

One of the life decisions I've been trying to make is where to go and what to study for my field project for my major. We have to do a project where we go out and do real, empirical anthropological research on a topic of our choice. I'm on track to do it next summer and then the next school year is spent writing my thesis and finishing up all my remaining classes. I was presented with an opportunity to possibly go to India on this really awesome program that my advisor is currently trying to get approved, but it never felt right and didn't really fit into my academic plan well because it would take up my fall semester and it would just complicate my life all the more. So, I kept looking around for ideas and I told my mom to think of something for me. Last week she called and she and my dad found me a project! The plan is to go live with my grandma in Orderville, Utah, and study her community. Orderville was one of the places the United Order was practiced and was quite successful. I'm interested in studying how living the United Order way back when still affects the social dynamics of the community today. This project fits my timeline, is NOT oversees (which my parents appreciate), I can live with my grandma, she knows everybody, I'm related to half of them, and it just feels good. I thought my advisor would be disappointed about me not going to India, but it turns out that the United Order is one of his areas of research interest that he has had for a long time and he wants to collaborate. He's also teaching a class next semester on intentional communities in America and one of the units is on the Order! I'm going to take it in preparation for my project. Everything is working out just right.

BYU football won again yesterday against SDSU and our defense was back! It went missing the last month and a half. Maybe SDSU was just not very good, or we were doing something different, but either way we were looking a lot better comparitively and I hope the upward trend continues. We need all the help we can get against Utah this year. Basketball season opens this week and the first tipoff is Friday night. I missed basketball season last year because I was in Israel, so I'm very excited for it this year!

Halloween was fun. I was inspired by Michael Jackson's Thriller and dressed up as a zombie. I've never dressed up as anything scary before so it was really liberating. I brushed and ratted out my hair into a fro, had scary makeup, and had so much fun! I freaked a lot of people out. I'll put up some pictures. I also watched a scary movie that night and survived. I'm not a scary-movie watcher, but I sat next to a girl who had seen the movie before and she'd warn me of all the scariest parts so we could hide our faces. I got though it with flying colors.

The happiest parts of my fall are when I get to meet up with friends that I haven't seen in a long time. The Jerusalem and Nauvoo reunions continue all the time. Last night we had a big Nauvoo reunion that we've planned for a month. We probably had at least 40 or more students come over the course of the evening. Many brought husbands or significant others. Some kids came down from Idaho, Logan, and Salt Lake City, and even Arizona. It was so fun because all the boys but one are home from their missions so I saw many of them for the first time in almost three years. One kid got home the night before the reunion! My semester in Nauvoo was such a formitive part of my life. Whenever I see people connected with the experience it's like seeing long lost relatives again, and it makes me happy faster than almost anything can.

I'm still here

2008-10-05T12:55:00.000-06:00

So, uh... how is everybody? I'm still alive, in case you were wondering. I've been so busy that I have not had the luxury of blogging. But this weekend is General Conference and I have no other obligations today.

Nothing much to report on for the last month. I've just been working and school-working all the time. I got a job at the Museum of People and Cultures here at BYU as a collections aid. Right now I am working on doing inventory for lots of collections that we have in storage. Really exciting, I know. But it's only a block away from my apartment, and I get to set my own hours.

My classes aren't hard, but they are time consuming. This semester is hardest I've ever had as far as time management. I have just enough time between class and work to get my homework done for the next day, but I have bigger projects coming up that I need to make time to work on and it is really hard to do it all.

I try to make time for some fun every so often. I always watch the football games and I'm on my ward's Ultimate Frisbee intramural team. My ward has had several activities and I've made lots of friends. I was able to attend the Relief Society General Broadcast last weekend and saw some friends from home there. Earlier this weekend I drove down to Saint George, UT, with a friend to support some Jerusalem friends who ran in the St. George Marathon yesterday. We stayed with my Aunt in Toquerville then went into town to watch everyone finish. All our runners did well despite the rain that came down virtually the whole race. My cousin Tom Gatten was also in the race and I saw him too. After the race we watched the afternoon session of conference before heading to the new In-N-Out Burger in Washington, UT. For three of us it was our first experience and I must say it was a good one! After that we all headed back north. It was nice to get out of town, if only for a day!

I added a new picture album of recent doings including the birth of Carson, reunions, India Fest, and other activities I've been up to. Enjoy.

Reunions

2008-09-01T14:18:00.000-06:00

The last two weeks of August were super busy. I worked extra hours at my job, visited some old friends, and then the fair started. When I wasn't at work I was at the elephant ear booth working, so there were some looooong days. The next Monday my sister Sarah had her baby. His name is Carson and he was 6 lbs 7 oz and 18.25 in long. I was having my last day of work and training a new girl when Sarah left me a message that she was in real labor. Mom and I headed over to the Valley Hospital as soon as I got home from work and the little guy came only 2 hours later. I got to be there for the whole thing. Sarah had an epidural and felt nothing. She went from a 5 to a 10 in 10 minutes and got him out in about 3 pushes. No sweat, literally. Mom made sure to tell me MOST deliveries don't go that smoothly. He's really cute and looks just like his big sister.

I was very happy the baby came on his own on Monday instead of Wednesday because then I was able to leave on schedule for Utah on Wednesday. I packed all day Tuesday and Wednesday morning and then Grandma Blackburn and I headed out Wed at lunchtime. We went as far as Uncle Gary's in Rigby, ID, then continued the rest of the way on Thursday to Mapleton, UT, and Uncle Don's house. They let me stay a couple nights because I still had nowhere to live. A while ago I did but the landlord sold my contract before I had the chance to sign it. Friday I kept checking and finally snatched up a spot close to campus. The downside is I can't live with my friend Diane like we had originally planned. Another stressor was we found out our dog Annie had cancer. We had her home another week before she could no long eat or function so we had her put down the day I left for school

Friday night was our big Jerusalem Reunion. The "first couple" of Jerusalem, Kristi and Davey, was married and at least 50 of the 78 students made it to the reception. All the teachers came too and it was a great party. After the stress of homelessness and doglessness and new babies it was great to just have fun with my friends. Saturday morning I had another small reunion, this time with Nauvoo friends. Seven of us went out to breakfast and it was so much fun too! Four of the group have just got home from missions so I hadn't seen them in 2 years or more. I'm very excited to see many more who have returned home from their missions and will be around campus again. Seeing Jerusalem friends is like meeting up with best friends. Seeing Nauvoo friends is like meeting up with family. Saturday afternoon we had another smaller Jru reunion. Some kids organized a bbq before the game.

Saturday was the first BYU Football game! We played Northern Iowa. We didn't play too well, but still won easily. They'd better step it up for the ULCA game coming up soon. No more fumbles. After the game I finally got some groceries, then I went to the weekend swing dance with the swing club. I haven't danced any swing in 8 months, so it was fun to see all my dancing friends and cut a rug for a while. I'm a little rusty, but it's like riding a bike-- you really don't forget.

My reunions continued on Sunday. I left church a little early so I could ride with Uncle Don and Aunt D'Anne to take Grandma down to Aurora, UT, and Uncle Brett's house. We had a family dinner and Uncle Scott and his family came too. Neither Brett or Scott came to the family reunion this summer, so it was fun to see them. I love reunions. Nothing can raise my spirits as fast as seeing someone I love!

This is enough for one sitting. I'm hungry, my battery is dying, and I need to buy books. I'll update you when there is something new to tell.

Jinxed

2008-08-17T20:11:00.000-06:00

So much for bragging rights. I got a sunburn the next day. I finally had my big garage sale and the temps got up to the high 90's. I stayed in the shade most of the day, but obviously not long enough. I got it bad on my forehead and neck. It was pretty tender, but now it's feeling better already. But my forehead is peeling. Gross. The garage sale went fine. I practically gave a lot of stuff away. Gosh, people can be such garage sale snobs. I tell them something nice, like a stuffed animal or a new pair of shoes is $1 and they complain and ask for 50 cents. I always said "sure" because the point is to get rid of stuff, but it surprised me how cheap people are, even at yard sales. You really get to see all kinds of personalities though. There are the people that don't even get out of the car: they just drive in, crane their necks out the window to scan the merchandise, then pull out again. Then there are the nice ones that get out and walk around forever, then leave with a nod and a thanks. Then there are the greedy ones that aren't satisfied and ask if we have more in the shop in back, and when they do find something they want they ask to get it at at least half of the already ridiculously low price we gave it. Then there are the ideal customers that come, find something they like, ask the price, give a reasonable counter offer, pay and then leave with a smile.

Today is my mom's birthday. The kids at church guessed she turned 24. She didn't correct them. If she's 24, that means I'm still an egg. Happy birthday Mom.

Two for One

2008-08-14T01:03:00.000-06:00

Written August 7 while our internet was being dumb:

Hey people. Hope the last... month was fun. I've just been keeping busy working and living life. Grandma Blackburn came up a couple of weeks ago to visit and stay through our family reunion. She's still hanging out here. Last week we had our biannual Blackburn reunion up here in North Idaho. Usually it's in Utah, so it was fun to have the cousins all come up here. We went up to the St. Joe wilderness where our family camps for Memorial and Labor Day. The weather was great and everyone had a lot of fun. We took one day to drive over to the Clark Fork River for a day of rafting. The water was pretty low so we only did one loooong run down the river. But the day was beautiful and a good time was had by all.

I head back to school in a couple weeks. I have some Jerusalem friends getting married in Utah on the 29th and so we are all planning on making it a reunion. I just hope my sister has her baby by then so I don't feel guilty for missing out on it. I've actually had a lot of Jru friends get married this summer. Some got engaged before our semester, some got engaged to their significant others right after getting home, and then a few couples within the student body are marrying each other! Three couples to be specific, despite the rules on no dating during the semester. Two of the couples did fraternize a bit throughout the semester, but one of the couples didn't date till they got home. They got 'er done pretty quickly and they get married tomorrow, the first of the intra-Jru couples. The other two couples both get married on the 29th. I've heard that they have changed the rules since our semester. Spring term the rule was "light dating". By summer term it was simply "no PDA". I guess they figured that if the kids weren't going to keep the rule, it was easier to change the rule than change the behavior!

Health update:
I think this summer is the winner for most random and frequent ailments ever. To add to my list, I broke out in a mysterious rash during the reunion that still hasn't cleared up and I had migraine for two days this week. With all the pain meds and antibiotics I've taken this summer, you'd think I'd be sterile and numb by now.

August 13:

Today was my nephew Rusty's birthday. He's 4 years old. Luke and his boys are still here but leave tomorrow to start the drive home to Denver. Rusty got plenty of superhero paraphernalia and had a little pool party with some cousins at Aunt Jean's pool earlier. I had to work this evening so I missed cake, but I made sure somebody saved me some! I always remember Rusty's birthday because he was born on Friday the 13. Makes it convenient.

Finally got to watch some Olympics for the first time this games tonight! I saw a little of the men's all around for gymnastics and some swimming. I also caught part of a table tennis match. Dang, they sure get serious in that sport! It was pretty intense. I've been working in the evenings and when I'm home I forget about the Olympics. Our house has been topsy-turvey though because we had to clear out the old kitchen so they could gut it. The remodeling on it began yesterday and lots of progress has already been made. Actually, I don't think the cable has been set up for a few days, so I couldn't have watched anything anyway. The old kitchen will be a new laundry room and a nice front room. It's amazing how much faster it goes when they don't have to start from scratch.

The fair starts next week already. Feels like we just closed up that booth! Monday we opened it up and got it cleaned out and set up. Elephant Ear time is fun because I get to see a lot of family and friends I don't see often, and I get all the ears I want! But the fair will forever always be a little scarring for me too. I was working at the fair when I found out my brother Scott had cancer two years ago. Needless to say that fair week was not fun.

Health update:
Ready for this? Nosebleeds. Yup, bleeds. I've had 5 or 6 in the last week. And some of mine don't just bleed, they gush. Today was the first day since Saturday I haven't had any bleeding from my nose, I think. I've got a good story about one episode I'll tell later. I've lost so much blood that I can't stand up too fast or even sit up too fast or I black out. Oh, and headaches still. I had another bad one this week plus one not-as-bad-but-still-not-fun yesterday. You can make stuff like this up, but who'd want to?

On the bright side, I have no sprained joints like the ones that plagued me last summer. I've had no sunburns, and my skin is actually quite blemish-free for once. I can still dance, run, walk, talk, eat, and work just fine so life is still good.

The rest of the story...

2008-07-14T00:05:00.000-06:00

I'm pretty much recovered now. After that last post my throat took a turn for worse and by my doctor's appointment I couldn't talk it hurt so bad. No complications, just lots of pain. But then it just got better from there. I didn't end up going back to work that week after all. I couldn't talk well still and was trying to wean myself off my painkillers. The great ladies at work covered for me and I went camping with the fam in Montana for the holiday weekend. Sitting around doing nothing among family and friends was better than sitting around doing nothing alone at home. I didn't get to do much but it was nice to relax and recover. Everyone else had fun going rafting on the Clark Fork River with the high water we've had all spring and now into summer.

I went back to work last Monday and it's nice to have something to get up and do. As much as I liked sleeping in every day during my recovery, I don't like it when I can't be productive with the rest of my day. Life is basically back to normal. I'm able to do physical activity again; I ate some chips this week and had some orange juice, all things I craved because I couldn't do them as I healed. The only time I have twinges of pain still is when I yawn or sneeze because the new tissue in my throat is still sensitive to those motions, but even those get easier every day.
Thank you for all of your caring inquiries into my health and recovery. And for those with less tact who seemed offended that I hadn't had my tonsils removed earlier like they had, my answer is simple: Nobody had told me to do it earlier. This summer was the first time it was suggested, so I got it done.

For all those that actually read this and are interested, I'm planning on having a small garage sale this weekend, a precursor to a later one. This one will be mostly clothes and shoes- lots of my own stuff I never wear anymore and also lots of little boy stuff. I've been cleaning all the little boy stuff out of Scott's room this summer. Later once we move into the new part of the house, I'll have another sale to sell the bigger items and miscellany as we purge our old things. The sale will be on the corner of Hanley and 4th street, at my grandparents' home, since our place is still a construction zone. See you there. Maybe.

Tonsils

2008-06-29T23:20:00.000-06:00

Wow, I've already posted 40 times. That's a lot. The tonsils are gone. It all went smoothly or so I was told because I only remember half of the morning. I have had no bleeding at all and my pain has been manageable. I had lots of people tell me how bad it would be since I'm "old" but I am happy to report they have been mostly wrong. I had it done Wednesday and today is Sunday and the first day I have felt really kind of sick. The first few days are usually fine, but as the nerves in the throat grow back it gets more painful and the pain reaches up to the ears; I am at that stage. I think it's giving me a little fever; I'm nauseous and a little dizzy. I'm taking liquid Lortab for pain and it takes the edge off so I can swallow ok, but I think that is what is making me feel woozy now even though it didn't earlier. It's painful to talk today too when it wasn't before. I go back to the doctor on Tuesday for my follow-up and will go back to work on Thursday. The family all left me this weekend to fend for myself. Danny went to a wedding out of town and the rest went on a spur-of-the-moment fishing/camping trip to the Big Hole in Montana. I hung out at Grandpa's on Friday and stayed by myself at home the rest of the time. Luckily I felt good during that time and wasn't sick till today. Everyone is back home tonight. It has turned blasted hot this weekend. I'm sure glad I live in the basement where it stays cool. I just feel bad that the upstairs was so hot when everyone came home!

Much ado about nothing

2008-06-20T20:13:00.000-06:00

I have been instructed to write a new post, because apparently y'all are tired of reading my old postings. The reason I haven't written is because life hasn't been unusual or interesting. Nothing has changed except maybe the fact that my work schedule is finally becoming more consistent, and that isn't very cool to read about. Um.... I cleaned my room? Sorry, I don't have much else to go on right now. Our house is looking like a house again. The new part is being painted now. Then all that is left is counter tops, fixtures, flooring, and siding. The weather finally turned warm this week so we aren't living in a refrigerator any more. It would get pretty cold since the weather was 20 degrees below average and the add-on had open window and door holes. Oh, I get my tonsils out next Wednesday. I'll take a week off of work after that to recoup, then it's back to the grindstone! Actually, work isn't bad at all. Business has been slower than normal because of the cold and rain, but since it has warmed up and things are happening downtown, it has picked up a lot. I don't live with my camera around my neck anymore, so I don't have any new pictures up, sorry. So there you have it, a whole paragraph for me to say that nothing is really going on that you didn't already know about. Sorry to bore you, but I didn't make you read this.

Work work work

2008-06-01T18:36:00.000-06:00

I finally start working full time all the time this week. I'll be working at the boutique and at Marmalade, another store by the same owner downtown. It'll be nice to be able to keep busy and be making money at the same time. I won't be working the other part time job anymore because it had to unexpectedly close. With the prices of food and fuel going up the place just isn't making money so they closed their doors Friday. I'm not too sad though. I'll be getting at least 30 hours a week working the stores, so I just have to come up with something to cover the other 10 hours. I'm thinking of cleaning houses like I did at school last fall. It's not something I'd like to do full time, but 10 hours a week is just right! If any of you know somebody who needs a pt housekeeper a couple times a week for the summer shoot me an email, comment here on the blog, or give them some way of contacting me. I'd really appreciate it!

Since I've been home I'll see people and they tell me how they have loved reading my blog and/or looking at my pictures and it always surprises me! I have no idea who reads this beyond a few friends a family members, but apparently I have a lot wider audience than I thought. I'm glad I have people that care about what I'm doing enough to get on here and keep updated, even if my life "isn't as exciting" as it was! I'm working on it.

Weekend Adventures

2008-05-27T15:20:00.001-06:00

It's official, I'm going under the knife. I'm finally getting my tonsils out at the end of June. Thankfully, when the swelling went down on my nose it wasn't crooked after all so I don't have to get anything done to it. I'm lucky to be working at businesses that are so accommodating. A couple days after calling in sick for my first day I called back and asked for a week off for my tonsils and they have been really nice about it. If it was my business I'd probably fire me and hire someone else less injury-prone!

I did finally get to work down at the boutique. It's a really cute shop and it's fun to help the people that come in. People from all over the country come to stay at the resort and I never really realized that personally. The holiday weekend was kind of a downer for the people downtown though because the lake was so flooded that the whole lake was a "no wake" zone.

For Memorial Weekend my family always goes camping up at the St. Joe River, just south and east of Coeur d'Alene. I had to work Saturday, so I went up that evening after work with my sister Sarah and her little family. Lots of extended family and friends come up too. The weather was great most of the weekend. Sunday evening we always have a big potluck dinner with Dutch oven cooked food and other yummy stuff. We also go rafting because that is the only time of year the river is high enough to raft. With all the recent snow melt it was running nice and high... and COLD. I rafted yesterday and it was quite a adventure. I went on two runs and on the second run on the last big rapid our raft tipped and dumped everyone but one person out. I fell out and had someone else fall on top of me, landing on my face so my nose is bruised and a little swollen again. I got swept away fast, so I was in the river the longest as every one else got dragged back into the boat and then tried to get the tow rope close enough to me to drag be in. It was a scary minute or so! The water is so cold it's really hard to breath. I was also floating through rolling water and getting hit in the face with more water. One can get hypothermia fast. I had a lot of layers so my body didn't get too cold, but my arms and legs went numb fast. By the time they dragged me aboard I couldn't move them. I was ok though and that being the last rapid we were done in another 5 min and I was able to jump in a warm car. I was tempted to go on the afternoon runs, but I was too fatigued from the morning's adventure! I still love rafting. Falling out on the St. Joe in May is about the worst case scenario, so if I can survive that, I can survive anything!

Here comes the sun!

2008-05-18T20:53:00.000-06:00

Who loves the sun? Sadie loves the sun! This is the weather I was prepared to come back to. For a while it was like I was back in a Jerusalem January and missed the summer-- all cold and rainy-- but now I know summer is coming. I hope it doesn't take too much longer... I'm losing my tan fast.... You think I'm kidding. I'm not. I really had a "tan". Of sorts. Just ask my mom, I was darker than Sarah for the first time in my life!

Life keeps coming at me. I did get another PT job, but I haven't started yet because I got sick Friday, the day I was supposed to start training. I also had to call in sick before my first full shift at the boutique. I felt really bad for whoever had to cover for me! But I think I'm healthy now. My nose is doing fine also; I'm glad it wasn't injured as badly as it could have. It's been bruised, but you can only tell if you are looking for it and that is almost gone now too. It's not really crooked either. It may be slightly lopsided which you can see as you look from the bottom up, but I hope nobody looks from that angle! I go to the doc tomorrow about my tonsils (if I need them out), and I'll have him take a look at my nose too, but I think it will be just fine.

I finally dug into this mess I called my room this weekend. We packed up the living room in preparation for knocking down the back wall, so I got one of the old bookshelves. It helps to finally have somewhere to put all my books (I have a lot). I finally contained the things I store for school in one corner and I can easily access my closet and see myself from head to toe in my mirror. That hasn't happened in a while! Lastly I finally changed my bedding into something less masculine. My room now used to be Benji's room, so I adopted my mom's old bedspread so that it finally looks like a girl lives here.

The Good, the Bad, and the Broken

2008-05-10T18:08:00.000-06:00

So this second week home was a little more exciting than the first! I did get a PT job at Marie's Boutique downtown in the resort and I'll start working next weekend after training. I'm going to keep looking for another part time job so I can be working full time.

Our add-on is starting to look like a real building. The framing is done and the roof has been started. Turns out the old roof on the house was in bad shape, so this week all the shingles were stripped off and we'll get a new roof over everything. We've had pounding overhead all week and it sounds like the workers are going to bust through! Mom keeps pictures of the project updated on her blog, so you can look at them by following her link on the left.

This week I also came down with tonsillitis. I don't know if I've ever had it before, at least not this bad: it was pretty painful. It's usually strep throat I get, but not this time. I've always had sore throats growing up so the doctor suggested I just get my tonsils out this summer. I'm going to go in and get checked by the ear, nose, and throat guy to see what he thinks. I've never had surgery other than getting my wisdom teeth out, so it's kinda scary to consider! I've never been put out under anesthesia either.

Lastly I think I broke my nose today. Doesn't quite look like it did before. I was down at Dad's office helping with an emergency tooth extraction. As I was cleaning up, I stepped halfway into the lab to quickly set something in there. While I was pulling my head back out and turning my head, I creamed my nose on the door jamb. We have a family history of broken noses. I think I'm the 4th kid to break it, and my mom and all her siblings have broken their noses too. It's not too swollen, but it is still kinda painful and not as straight as it once was so I've been icing it. Good thing I already have an appointment with our nose doctor!

Happy Mother's Day tomorrow for all of you moms, almost moms, and those who act as moms!

Get in on the Ultimate Steal!

2008-05-08T00:54:00.000-06:00

Hey if any of you readers are enrolled as students at a college or university and have an active school email ending in .edu than you can get in on this deal. Microsoft is promoting all their new software put out in 2007 and they are selling it to students for 1/10 of the normal price. You get $600 worth of software for $60. Thats the average price for just one program. Click on the "Ultimate Steal" link to learn more and purchase it.

This is a real deal. I bought it while I was in Jerusalem this last semester and I was referred to it by the Costco free concierge service guy that helps me with my computer when I struggle. You get all the programs in the Microsoft Ultimate Office package. I got mainly because I needed OneNote (which I use to take all my class notes all semester-fabulous program!), Word, and PowerPoint and even so that's a deal just for those programs. If any of you have students that need this (or if YOU need it and want to exploit your student and let them buy it for you) let them know about it quickly because the offer ends in 6 days! If you have any questions just ask me and I can help.

For any BYU students, I had a problem at first because I thought my school email ended in @byu.net, but it actually ends in @nm.byu.edu. The .net address is just an alias that is delivered to the real address. Use the .edu or it won't work.

New Face

2008-05-03T21:19:00.000-06:00

As you may have noticed, I changed things up a bit on here. I didn't realize it at first but when I set up this blog, the color scheme actually matched the Holy Land-scape unintentionally. Since I am no longer there, I thought it appropriate to change it to reflect where I am now- Idaho! K, I'm done being deep.

I'm still looking for work. I had an interview this week and I was hoping to find out if I got the job by today but no luck. It's been kind of nice to relax and hang out all week, but I'm getting lazy and I need an occupation. I have been unpacking and cleaning up my room. It's kind of a disaster, but I'm making progress and going through and getting rid of stuff. I'll have a yard sale later when I get it all gathered. If I'm not going to use the stuff anymore I may as well make a buck on it. If any of you want to donate to my cause, feel free!

Sorry, I didn't know how to make any of this sound exciting this time. It's inherently boring material, not much to work with. Hopefully I'll have cooler news next time.

ps. I've reached over 1000 hits since I began my blog. Thank you to all you faithful readers, all five of you.... Ha! And I added a new album of pictures of the JC itself so you could see more of what the building looked like that I spent so much time in.

Back at the ranch

2008-04-28T14:45:00.000-06:00

Hm, not sure how many people will keep reading this now I'm back at home in the states. The flight was long but I think I'm about over jet lag. I ended up with a 8 hour layover in Chicago because my flight was delayed and hour because of weather. My friend Ashley was there with me because her flight left late too, but hers ended up getting canceled and she had to sleep in the airport! Bummer. I don't feel like I'm had to do much adjusting; I think I was ready to come home.

I didn't name this blog after Jerusalem on purpose because I intend to keep it updated with what is going on in my life. I was informed yesterday that now that I'm not in Jerusalem my blog won't be interesting, but I'll try my hardest to make it worth reading! The day after I got home I had some real pizza, and I had my Mexican food the next afternoon so that was exciting. Ok, maybe not but I was pretty happy about it. It takes me a while to get dressed in the mornings because I have so many options. I love it. One weird thing about being home is I get to experience spring all over again. Let's pray for summer to come fast! My parents are adding on/remodeling our house so I came home to a hole in the back yard and a huge pile of dirt. The walls and floor of the new basement are in. Soon they'll move to the upper story.

Right now I am summer job hunting, so if you have any ideas or connections, let me know! Hopefully I'll have good luck since I get out for the summer sooner than most universities. Mom started her own family blog so she doesn't have to put lots of family stuff on my brother's Scott's medical update site. She's got pictures up of spring break to Mexico and the house remodel. Check it out via the link on the left. Hope all is well with you and yours and hopefully I'll see some of you around now that I'm home!

And thus ends life as I know it... again...

2008-04-23T14:50:00.000-06:00

It's our last night in Jerusalem. Nobody is going to bed. There is still a lot to be done: packing, picture sharing, etc. Half of us head to the airport at 3am, so... no point in trying to get any sleep. It was a good week. Monday and Tuesday we went to all the places Jesus did the last week of his life culminating at the Garden Tomb where we finished touring the last site of our last field trip of the semester.

Today was a free day to spend as we liked. I went all around the Old City with friends, saying goodbye to all our favorite vendors. I met a few I had never met before and I wished I would have! I'll just have to come back someday to see them again. One guy owns a photography shop. He used to be the photographer for the late King Abdullah II, the king of Jordan. He's probably the kindest man I have ever met in my life. I'm sad I didn't know him all along. I said goodbye to Shabban, Omar, Jimmy, Baghdadi, Aladdin, the falafel guys at Damascus Gate, my 15 shekel shirt man, and all the other shopkeepers that know and love the Mormons and expressed their sadness at our departure as we passed them by. I finished my day coming up the valley via the Orson Hyde Park. We ate our last dinner in the Oasis and then watched our end-of-semester DVD. We had a last devotional out on the lawn all together overlooking the city. We all got tours of the underneath side of the center where all the workings are. I think we were the first group to not sneak down there. Now we are finishing up all our last things. I need to get all my things together, weigh my bags, and get ready to get on the bus at 3. I don't want to spend my last three hours on a computer.

So long Israel, so long Palestine. Life as I know it ends once again.

Coming down the homestretch...

2008-04-20T10:41:00.000-06:00

Classes and finals are done! I am getting excited to come home. I know I'll miss all my friends here a lot, but I'm ready to come back. I'm worn out! We've had several field trips this last week. We did a tour of some archaeological sites that date back to the first century AD and we toured a lot of the old Christian churches. We had one ancient near east final last Thursday, and we had out New Testament final this morning. I think I did well on both, so that is satisfying.

The next two days we walk the places Jesus during the last week of his life. Should be really cool and a fitting end to our semester. Wednesday will be our last full free day and then we fly out early on Thursday. Coming up quickly! It has been a good semester and I am satisfied.

Today I walked around the Old City and finished my shopping. The Old City is my favorite part of Jerusalem and I'll miss walking around, seeing all the vendors, visiting our favorite shop keepers and haggling for cool stuff. It has been so warm and every day is beautiful. The rainy season is most definitely over and it's sunshine all the time. I checked the weather at home today. 32 degrees, feels like 24. BRRRR!!! Here I am ready for summer and I'm going to have to go through spring all over again! So much for my base tan..... ha!

I added a new picture album-- Jerusalem: the End...ing Part.

Singing and Sneezing

2008-04-15T12:31:00.000-06:00

The choir concert went great. Since it was in the Anglican Church there were a lot of British people and it was fun to meet them. It was a big deal that we sang there because the Mormons have a historic clash with the Anglicans, namely the Anglicans hate the Mormons' guts. Often the faculty have their children here in Israel with them and have always sent them to the Anglican Church and it can be rough on the kids. The center has tried to create good relations and once invited the Anglicans to give a concert here and they refused to step foot here because they don't consider Mormons Christians. SO.... it was a really big deal that they invited us to perform in their cathedral. It was a big step in a good direction and we had a really great experience. The bishop and the bishop's assistant were very welcoming and loved our singing.

Just my luck, the sniffles are being passed around and I think I got it. Or it could be allergies. Or both. Whatever it is, I have a leaky nose, the sneezies and a congested head. This happened last year right before finals too. It is making an already stressful week more inconvenient.

We have a final on Thursday and another on Sunday. I've finally cracked down today, got myself a study buddy, and got some hard core studying done. My previous efforts had been embarrassingly weak, but we got a lot of work done today. We had another field trip today into the old city to the big, old Christian churches. I'd post pictures, except in my haste this morning I forgot my camera on the bed. I also forgot my sunglasses. Kind of a sad morning. But! I did finally get to go up in the tower at the Church of the Redeemer after 3 previously failed attempts (but without my camera... ouch!), and I had lunch at the best falafel and humus place ever. Literally a hole in the wall, or basement rather, in East Jerusalem.

8 more days! Eek!

Coming down the homestretch....

2008-04-13T06:41:00.000-06:00

My time is growing short over here. We have one final on Thursday, the other next Sunday, and then school is finished! I come home on the 24, so in 11 days. Actually, I leave in 11 days, I'll be home in 12! It takes a whole day to get from here to there. It's time for all the lasts. Last shopping, site seeing, etc. I've got much of my souvenir shopping finished for family and friends, and I only have one last site to see that I really want to see before I'm done.

Today we had a field trip of the archaeological park by the Temple Mount. We saw lots of things from the 1st century, it was pretty cool. It was pretty warm out today. I'll be coming home with lots of freckles and a real watch and sandal tan. I'm sure glad we leave before it gets REALLY hot. That would be unbearable I think.

Tonight is our choir concert over at St. George's Cathedral; should be good. We had our dress rehearsal last night. Our conductor and his wife, the Gailbraiths, go home on Tuesday, their time here is up too. They are one of the service couples that just stay at the center for a year or so. They have been in charge of Sunday concerts at the center and the student choir. Their replacements are the Squires who have recently arrived. Brother Gailbraith has been a saint dealing with us students! We are a pretty "interactive" group in the words of Bro Huntington, aka loud and distracted. Since Bro Gailbraith is a musical genius and either wrote or arranged nearly all the music, we can record the performance without violating any copyrights, so when I get a copy I'll see if I can post those up for y'all to listen.

ps. My pictures are updated through the Dead Sea FT. Look for those under the "Second Half of the Middle" album.

Life Since Galilee

2008-04-10T10:06:00.000-06:00

Now it's time to catch up with what has happened since Galilee! The day after we got home was a free day, so I went out into the city. I went with a couple of friends to the citadel, which is often called David's Tower, but it wasn't actually build by King David. After that we walked over to West Jerusalem, had an amazing bagel sandwich from Holy Bagel on Jaffa Street, and did some shopping at one of our favorite stores. The next day I got to go help with a painting project. One of the teachers here has his wife and two of his children here with him. The son is working on his Eagle Scout project (and he is only 13!) and for it he is doing a mural in the hall of a nearby school. We all got to go contribute. We had a lot of fun painting the walls and each other. On Shabbat I paid another visit with some friends to the Garden Tomb. The weather is a lot warmer so there were a lot more visitors than when I went that very first week I was here. I also went to the Russian Church of the Ascension convent which has a tower that overlooks the city. It is being worked on so we couldn't go up in it.

We have 6 field trips spead out over our last two weeks here. We have already been on three this week! The first one was Sunday to Neot Kedumim, a land preserve dedicated to preserving the land as it would have looked during the time of the Bible. We learned about lots of the plants mentioned in the Bible and gave a lot more meaning in reading those scriptures now! It was a really cool field trip, cooler than everyone expected it to be. We got to herd sheep and goats, make our own zata (a popular spice mix here) and pita too.

The next day was a class day with a free afternoon. I made it a shopping day to get lasts things. I got my nativity set, t-shirts for friends and myself, and other gifts. I think I'll need one more day to get everything I want. Tuesday we had a field trip to Tel Aviv and Jaffa. We learned about ancient history in Jaffa and modern history in Tel Aviv. Jaffa is the port town where the apostle Peter had the vision to take the gospel to the Gentiles. Tel Aviv was the first Hebrew city, established by Jews migrating to the Holy Land in the early 1900s. Yesterday was another class day, but we got confined to the center for the afternoon so I spent it taking a nap and doing homework. Really exciting.

Today was super cool!!! We went to Masada, floated in the Dead Sea, hiked to a waterfall at Ein Gedi, and went to Qumran. It was a really fun day. The Dead Sea was so cool! You just float. No swimming involved. You float so high in the water that people look like they are standing in the water. You can recline and prop your feet up. You can float on your tummy and lift your hands and feet out of the water and still float. Trying doing that in fresh water-- doesn't work! We found a mud pit and slathered Dead Sea mud all over our bodies. It's supposed to be really good for the skin. People pay like $25 an ounce for it. We did it for free! It was a really fun day. Picture from this week were added to the "Second Half of the Middle", album so check 'em out. Only two more weeks before I'm home!

Galilee

2008-04-07T14:13:00.000-06:00

Where to begin? Galilee is AMAZING. If you ever get the opportunity to come to Israel, a few days in Galilee is a must. A few weeks, even better. I spent 11 days and we all wish we could have stayed the whole semester!

We left on Easter Sunday. We were able to attend the sunrise service at the Garden Tomb. It was very evangelical, so it was a lot of fun! We are all still singing "Happy Day". Then we departed to head up north. We stopped first at Megiddo and toured the tel. I saw the famous stables of Solomon and learned that they probably weren't stables after all. The tell overlooks the Jezreel Valley aka the valley of Armageddon. Next we stopped for lunch in Afula which is famous for its falafel. There is one falafel stand where the guy does tricks and throws the falafel balls up in the air and catches them in the pita; it was really cool! Our last stop of the day was Sepphoris, Herod's Pearl of the Galilee. It's near Nazareth, so it is possible that is where Joseph, step-father of Jesus, may have been employed since the city hired lots of artisans as it was being built up. The area around Sepphoris was so beautiful that it reminded me a lot of home and even made me a little homesick. That doesn't happen much-- that tells you how beautiful it really was! We finally arrived at Ein Gev, the place we were staying. We stayed in little bungalows near the Sea of Galilee.

Day 2 was a field trip day for my class. We are divided between the two religion classes. We only kept one bus all week, so the two classes would alternate. When one class was on a field trip with the bus, the other would have a class day. We started off with a boat ride across the lake. It was a beautiful and clear day, something we learned was rare because there is often a haze over the lake. On the other side there is a museum with a fishing boat that was found that dates back to around the time period of Jesus, so it is often called the "Jesus boat". It was found about 13 years ago in the mud around the lake during a drought. Next we made our way to the Mount of Beatitudes were there is a beautiful Italian church that was built by Mussolini actually. His people accused him of not being a good Catholic so he built this church. We had our lecture about the Sermon on the Mount up there. After lunch we toured the Byzantine basilica-style chapel at Tabga which commemorates Jesus feeding of the 5000 with 2 fishes and 5 loaves, then walked over to the Crusader chapel commemorating St. Peter's Primacy, when Jesus told Peter to "feed my sheep". Our last stop was at Capernaum where Jesus based much of his ministry from. Archaeologists are confident that they have actually identified Peter's home because of the many other chapels built over it over time. There is a Franciscan church suspended over it now, but you can see beneath to the ruins.

Day 3 was a class day for us, so we had 3 hours of New Testament class in the morning outside on the lawn overlooking the water underneath the blooming trees. Spring is here in the Holy Land. Roses are already blooming too. Summer isn't here yet though, which means swimming season is not yet, so we weren't allowed to go in the water. Our director begged for us and arranged for each class to get one day of swimming though. This was our day and we got 4 hours to spend in the water. It was great! The temperature was like Hayden Lake in August= perfect! We had lots of fun playing in the sand too, as you can see from pictures!

The next day we had a field trip to Gamla. This is the place where Josephus, the Jewish historian, had command during the first Jewish revolt in the first century. The Jews ended up committing suicide by jumping off the cliffs rather than being brutalized as Roman slaves, so that is what it is known for. You can still see where the wall was breached by Roman battering rams. We climbed up to the very top of the hill. We had not been sufficiently informed about the nature of the field trip that day and many girls wore skirts because of the heat. Bad idea! It was really windy and we had a time trying to not flash everybody! I ended up just tying my skirt around my legs, or as I called it "girding my loins". It was really fun still and really beautiful. If you have seen the new Pride and Prejudice movie it looks like the area of the peaks in the movie. After Gamla we went to Qazrin, a village where the people had lived Talmudically during the period of time when the Talmud was being written, sort of an experimental village where they would see what things worked and what didn't. That night our class got to go to the fish restaurant and eat some St. Peter's fish, an indigenous species that has always lived in the Sea of Galilee. It was pretty yummy. After that we went to Tiberias for ice cream.

Day 5 was another class day. That afternoon many of us went on an optional hike up in the Golan. We hiked among the hills and up to a waterfall. We got to swim in the pool at the base and it was FREEZING. Think Lake Pend Orielle in the spring. When our bus brought us home, our driver favored us with a sample of the Muslim prayer call. Apparently Ata, our driver, is a local celebrity of sorts. He does the prayer call for the mosque next to the Dome of the Rock every weekend and is broadcast to Jordan too. He just spontaneously did part of a prayer call for us on the bus and it was really cool. He is the nicest man and definitely the nicest bus driver we've ever had.

The next day was another field trip day. We first went to Beth She'an. This city was Hellenized so there are a lot of Roman ruins. This is the city where King Saul's body was hung on the gate (after he died in battle nearby) before the Israelites sneaked and took it down to bury it. We climbed all over the ruins. Next we went to the area of the Seven Springs. It's a national part now, but it has been people have been going bathing there for centuries. There are these 7 natural thermal springs that bubble up in one area. The water was clear and beautiful and warm, like a pool in August. There were lots of fish in the water and there was this one that kept biting everybody. It even drew blood a couple times! We went to Bet Alfa to see a cool mosaic floor that has been well preserved, then to Nain to the little chapel that commemorates the miracle of Jesus raising the widow's son from death. We ended the day with a taxi ride up the 17 switchbacks of Mount Tabor, one of the mountains that the Transfiguration may have taken place. Up on top we met Truman G. Madsen, a well known historian.

Saturday was Shabbat and we went to church at the little church building in Tiberias. It is the only chapel for our church in Israel. It used to be a house that was converted into a meeting house; It is beautiful and overlooks the Sea of Galilee. Church was the only thing scheduled, so we got the rest of the day to ourselves. I spent it reading and writing in my journal on the lawn looking out over the lake. Life is tough.

We had class the morning of the eighth day, so in the afternoon lots of us climbed up to Hippos. It was a Hellenized pagan city on a nearby hill. It is speculated that this was the town Jesus was referencing in talking about "a city on a hill cannot be hid". It was a fun adventure. One kid had been up there earlier in the week and accidentally dropped his camera down a hole into a cistern or something like it. This time he brought rope and the boys were able to lower him down into the hole to retrieve the camera. He got it back and it still works too! From the top of Hippos you can overlook the whole lake.

Day nine was a little rainy. We first went to Hazor which is the biggest archaeological site in Israel. Then we went to Tel Dan, which is now a preserve and so has lots of beautiful greenery everywhere. After this we went to Caesarea Philipi and then to our final stop of the day: Nimrod's Castle. It's actually a crusader castle that was then taken over by Muslim conquerors. But it's a real castle! It was a lot of fun to crawl all over it.

Monday we were to go to the world famous Bahai Gardens at the headquarters of the Bahai faith in Haifa because they rescheduled our tour from Monday, but we were still in Ein Gev in Galilee and couldn't make it to Haifa in time for the tour so we missed it. We were all really sad. Instead we went the place that commemorates the miracle of the swine, and Chorazim before heading to Nazareth. In Nazareth we went to the Church of the Annunciation and then had some free time to walk around the city. We also went to Acco and toured the Crusader citadel and the al-Jazaar Mosque. My camera batteries died in Acco, so I didn't get any pictures of it unfortunately. That night we stayed in Haifa on the coast of the Mediterranean.

Tuesday was the last day of the trip. Since we couldn't go to the big gardens, we went to some smaller Bahai gardens instead. They were still very beautiful and incredible manicured. We did do a drive by of the Bahai headquarters to take pictures. We were supposed to go to this cool Templar cemetery, but our bus driver got lost and we ran out of time to stop there, so instead we stopped at a beach by an ancient aqueduct to eat lunch and stick our feet in the water. Our last stop was at Caesarea Mauritania, where Herod had a man-made port constructed. Finally we made it home and have since caught up on our laundry and are back in the usual grind.

As long as this post is, this I barely skimmed over what we did! At least this will give you a dialog to follow as you look at pictures. Now it is very late here and I have another field trip to Tel Aviv in the morning, but I had to finally get caught up with this! Check out the pictures, all the Galilee ones are up.

Catsup, Ketchup, Catch Up.... Whatever...

2008-03-22T13:46:00.000-06:00

That last post took half a week to write, so I already have an update on life. Finals are over and it feels good. I'm still coming back to life (I've been a zombie by the way). This week definitely was the "best of times and the worst of times". The "worst": finals and all the studying that profited me nothing. The "best": Palm Sunday and Bethlehem, Easter weekend, and the studying that did pay off in the end. The first final I don't even want to talk about, and the other two were fine. I actually rocked the last one, it was satisfying. Oh, another part of the worst: we lost our last soccer game, so we are out of the tournament. We only lost by one point. It was sad.

This weekend was the Jewish feast of Purim. We had our own little Purim party here. The Jews dress up in costumes for it, similar to Halloween. We have limited resources here at the JC, so we all got creative with our costumes. We had a bonfire, made banana boats, reenacted the story of Esther, and burned the manuals of the classes we just finished. It was fun and definitely a great way to relieve the stress of the week.

Spring is here and trees are budding everywhere and flowers are springing up all over. Even a few roses have bloomed around the center. Today was Easter Sabbath for us. Lots of students went down to the Garden of Gethsemane between church and dinner. It seemed appropriate. We leave for Galilee in the morning, but before we do, our departure was pushed back so we can go to the sunrise service at the Garden Tomb (enough students protested that they were being deprived of Easter in Jerusalem!). The Galilee field trip is our longest one and spans 11 days, so you'll get a break from these updates for a while. We are all really excited, especially since the weather is nice and warm for good now! It may still be winter where you are, but it's not where I am!

I updated my pictures and added another album, so check 'em out. I really crave Mexican food. Just throwing that out there.

Palm Sunday and Bethlehem

2008-03-20T07:40:00.000-06:00

Things are winding down. Papers are done, and only one more final to go. We leave for Galilee on Sunday. Unfortunately, we will not get to spend Easter here in Jerusalem because it is a travel day for us.

Despite the mass hysteria that always accompanies high levels of stress in confined spaces, we have been able to do a couple of fun things this last week that gave us a break from the grind. Last Sunday was Palm Sunday and it is my new favorite holiday (as long as I can celebrate it in Jerusalem). Here in Jerusalem pilgrims come from literally all over the world to walk from Bethphage to St. Anne's, a French Catholic church not far inside the walls through Lions Gate, in Jerusalem. We all walked over to the starting point together where there were lots of little boys selling palms and olive branches. The tradition is the pilgrims carry the branches along the walk in commemoration of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem the week before he was crucified. It was so much fun to be with so many Christians! There were people from all walks of life: tourists, nuns, monks, youth groups, students and locals. There were thousands of people! We all walked along together singing hymns. There were even some mobile musical groups complete with accordions, tambourines, microphones and speakers they carried along. The walk ends at St. Anne's because that is where the Pool of Bethesda is. On the grounds they had more music and we all continued to celebrate together. Some of our students even initiated a conga line at one point. Not all the nuns appreciated it, but what can I say? We have a dance party wherever we go, do we not?

We went to Bethlehem a couple days later. Our Palestinian teacher lives and works there, so he was in charge of the tour. We heard a lecture by the director of an institute that does research about Palestine. He was a former political prisoner so that's cool. He was understandably very passionate. We then went to Bethlehem University where we had a tour of part of campus, then had a question and answer session with 4 students. It was really interesting to ask them questions about what their lives are like in the West Bank. It is good for us to hear the story from both sides, something Americans never get in the states I now know.

Next we went to Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity. It is built over the grotto that Christ was traditionally born in. We got to go down in it and sing Christmas carols. There is nothing like singing "Away in a Manger" in the stable where it happened (maybe)! We had some free time to do some shopping in town and then left for "shepherd's field" for our last stop. We just went out to an open field outside the city to eat our sack dinners and then had a devotional and lecture on the birth of Christ under the stars. It was cool... and by that I mean freezing. We had to huddle for warmth but it was worth it! It was a neat experience.

Odds and Ends

2008-03-14T15:01:00.000-06:00

Tuesday they finally let us go out into the city again. Things seemed to have calmed down a bit and we are keeping our fingers crossed that it stays that way. It was a bittersweet privledge because we had to study for our Old Testament final, so we really didn't have much time to go anywhere. Most everyone did anyway and it was great because the weather was beautiful all week. We have three more finals and a 14-page paper due next week in addition to all the regular work for other classes, so we have plenty to keep us busy. We started our New Testament class today, and we'll have only that and our Ancient Near East class the rest of the semester. NT will be intense since we are cramming it into a month, but we are all excited. We are going to spend 11 days in Galilee soon where we will get to travel around and see places like Nazareth and Megiddo (of Armageddon fame).

So, I've instituted an exercise regime for myself so that I ensure that all my clothes will still fit when I get home. As part of it I am participating in the JC soccer tournement. Our team lost the first time, but we won the second. We are tied for 2nd place in our bracket so we have a playoff next Wednesday to see who will play against the 2nd place team of the other bracket. The winner of that game plays the winner between the 1st places for the win over all. That sounds confusing, but that's how it is workis. We play 4 on 4 and my team has 2 boys and 2 girls. Two have played before and two haven't, including me, but we do pretty well. I have found that I have a natural talent as a goalie, and I have the bruises to prove it.

Don't forget to check out my pictures! I have them updated through the Eilat trip and our tour through the Kotel Tunnel (Kotel=Western Wall, they have excavated along it under the Islamic neighborhood).

Eilat of Fun in the Sun!

2008-03-10T03:18:00.000-06:00

The Friday after we got back form Jordan was a free day, so our out-of-Jerusalem committee organized a trip down to the resort city of Eilat (pronounced eh-LOT) to go snorkeling in the Gulf of Aqaba. It was a perfect day. The place we snorkeled was part of a preserve, so we had to stay within certain boundaries but it was worth it because the coral has been so well preserved. Of all the places I've been snorkeling this place had the best coral by far. There were tons of fish too, but they were mostly small fish in large schools. The water felt kind of chilly initially and it took me several minutes to convince myself to jump it. Each time I was better though. We had lots of fun swimming and just laying out on the beach and being lazy. Lots of people got badly burned, but not yours truly. I've had lots of practice in how not to. In the evening we went into the town to find dinner before heading back home. The sunshine followed us back and every day since has been warmer and warmer in Jerusalem. I think spring may finally be upon us!

Security Update

2008-03-10T02:59:00.000-06:00

I'm sure many of you were curious (and worried) about me and what is going on at this end with regards to the shooting last week. If you didn't know, a Hamas-affiliated man from East Jerusalem walked into a yeshiva Thursday evening and opened fire on the students. Eight young students died and many more were wounded. The incident happened on the west side of the Old City near Jaffa Gate (you can find the area on one of the maps to the left). We had been in Jordan all week but came home on Thursday afternoon so we were in Jerusalem when it happened, but we live in the East City on the outskirts of town and weren't allowed out that evening, so we were nowhere near the action. Most of us found out what happened early the next morning. Most everyone, including me, was gone all day Friday in Eilat in southern Israel, so we weren't around to see the immediate aftermath. Currently we have been on lockdown in the center all weekend through today (Monday) and can only leave for organized, approved group activities like Eilat was. Our security guys are taking the days one at a time as they contact their sources around the city and gauge the tension in the city. The shooting was an isolated incident and seemed to have intentionally occurred during Secretary Rice's visit. We are basically waiting to see if it escalates or blows over. Don't worry- we aren't being sent home. The situation is not as serious as that, it is just tense.

Jordan

2008-03-06T06:33:00.000-07:00

I'm home! And surprised that so many people have checked this blog even though I was out of town (there is a counter at the bottom of the page if you didn't know). It's validating, knowing people actually come read this.

Jordan was awesome! Definitely one of my favorite field trips thus far. It was only a 4 day trip, but it feels like we have been gone for a long time. The first day we crossed over the boarder and security conditions were such that we first went to the traditional location of Jesus' baptism at Bethany beyond Jordan (as opposed to the Bethany next to Jerusalem). The location is within a military zone, so we have to get clearance when we go. The Jordan is a little, dirty river that meanders through the lowlands. There are some ruins of an old church that used to be over the site (note*= whenever people claimed a place to be a holy site in antiquity, they built a church over it) and some other Byzantine ruins in the area. It was a cool spot.

Next we went to Madaba where we got to see this mosaic map of the Holy Land from the Byzantine era. The church it was in originally was ruined in an earthquake, but a new one has since been built over it to preserve it. The map has been valuable to archaeologists as they piece together the Holy Land as it existed in the Bible. To end the day we made the long drive down to Petra to spend the night. We usually are in rooms of two with one group of three girls and I was in the group of three this time, so we had a bigger room. It was a suite actually and we had private access to the roof. We felt cool and people were jealous.

Day two was all about Petra, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Remember that place they go in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade to find the Holy Grail? Yeah, saw that. It was amazing. This whole civilization of the Nabateans carved tons of caves and facades for tombs and temples out of the sandstone in this narrow canyon in the desert. Lots of us took donkeys up to the ''Monastery" up on one of the nearby mountains. It's not really a monastery but the people who found it called it that. It was a temple and the most impressive facade in the valley. I forgot my inhaler on the bus, so I also took a mule while most everyone else hiked up to the High Place, a site where the people performed their animal sacrifices atop a different mountain. That was cool too because the altar was still up there. The whole site was amazing and you can spend all day exploring, but alas we had only until 2pm. People were late though and cost us a visit to the site of Moses' Spring because we had to drive back north to Amman, the capital of Jordan. In our free time that night we all took a trip down the street to a shop that sells cheap pirated DVDs and we cleaned the place out. Don't worry, it's legal over here and the teachers were even endorsing the activity! We even got a few movies that aren't even out on video in the states yet! We are all excited to try them out and make sure they work.

The next day we went first to the Jabbok River where Jacob wrestled with an angel. It really pretty if you didn't look too close at the water (super polluted- we were advised to not even touch it). The site actually kind of reminded me of the St. Joe River back at home. Then we went to Jerash, which is a well-preserved Roman city. There is a beautiful Roman theater where some musicians were playing bagpipes and drums for the tourists. We had another dance party like we usually do each trip. I loved Jerash because there were all these temples and columns and things that I had learned about in art history 201. It was very validating to know and understand the significance what I was looking at. After our tour we got to go to a show they put on in the hippodrome about what the Roman legions were like, how gladiators fought, and a chariot demonstration. It was very instructive. After Jerash we had lunch at this super-good restaurant that had the best humus ever. Next we went to where the local branch of our church meets in Amman. The area president and the branch president talked to us about what it was like living there and the sorts of activities the church is involved in, like humanitarian aid. Outside the building I saw a couple that I met at church in Jerusalem last week. They have been serving a humanitarian aid mission in Lebanon and were touring around Israel and Jordan before heading home to the states. It was fun to see some familiar faces! The rest of the day was free time and I really wanted to go to the art museum, but then none of the taxi drivers knew what we were talking about, so my group ended up getting more DVD's and some ice cream and hanging out around the hotel since we were exhausted anyway.

The last day (today) we went to the citadel of Amman where there are more Roman ruins and a museum of lots of world-class antiquities. We saw some of the Dead Sea Scrolls including the Copper Scroll, some neolithic skeletons, and other really cool things that if I were to list, you would get bored because you don't know why they are so cool. That was our last stop before heading back over the boarder. Now we are back at home and I even unpacked already. It was such a fun trip and if anyone wants to travel to the Middle East, Jordan is the place to go. Clean, organized, good drivers (I mean this comparatively, all drivers in the Mid east are crazy; Jordanians are just less crazy), friendly people, and cool things to see. I'll post pictures in a day or two, so don't forget to come back and check 'em out.

Overload

2008-02-28T00:14:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted because I have been doing virtually one thing for a week: homework/studying. We have a LOT to do and it is difficult to keep up and still get sleep. We had our midterm for our Modern Near East- Jewish Perspective class last week. Those of us in Hebrew have a quiz today and everyone has the midterm for our Ancient Near East class tomorrow which involves knowing an insane amount of information. Brother Seely calls the panic before a test "mass hysteia". It can be pretty entertaining to watch. To those of you who wonder what we do here, yes we really go to school, and yes we have to actually study and take tests that will ultimately affect the grades that affect our collegiate GPA's. Some study more than others. Some kids will be graduating in April so it doesn't matter what grades they get this semester. I am not so fortunate.

A nice break in the daily grind was a field trip to the City of David yesterday. This is the part of Jerusalem that constituted the city when King David was ruling back in the day. There is some cool stuff being done archaeologically over there on the Ophel where David's City was. They are finding buildings and walls from the time of the Babylonian destruction in 586 BC when the kingdom of Judah was taken into exile. This is exciting stuff if you didn't know. To end our tour we got to walk, or wade rather, through Hezekiah's Tunnel. King Hezekiah had a tunnel carved out to divert the water supply so that it would come inside the city walls in preparation for an Assyrian attack. It's still there and water still runs through it. The tunnel ended at the Silome Pool which has recently been discovered (currently the tunnel ends short of the place). The pool is associated with a miracle involving the healing of a blind man by Jesus. By the original pool (which is only partially excavated) a guy also let us in to a place that is not open to the public. In it were original Herodian stairs that would have led up the hill toward the temple mount. The current ground level of Jerusalem is 30 feet above the level that Jesus would have actually walked. These stairs are part of the level of Jesus' day, therefore Jesus would have certainly walked on them. I finally got to walk on a place where Jesus walked! It gave me chills. Pictures will be postponed till the madness of this week is over, but I most certainly have pictures.

Today is a beautiful day. And we go to Jordan next week. And tonight there is a big Ramadan dinner complete with folk-dancing lessons. There is happiness here despite the mass hysteria.