Tuesday, March 25, 2008

A Working Keyboard...


I'm not sure exactly what Zac did, but he got our old keyboard working while Logan and I were doing laundry...so hurray! So here's what I haven't posted the past few weeks:
California/Ellen was AMAZING. We drove down to Las Vegas Wednesday night and were going to drive to LA Thursday morning. Well, the babies woke up around 4:30 am and kept waking each other up, so we decided to just hit the road around 5:30. I was telling Dani that maybe it was a good thing and she agreed; it gave us more freedom for various stops. Well it turns out that it was a VERY good thing. On our return trip through Vegas, Zac's cousin said "You guys didn't get held up in traffic did you?" and when we asked him what he meant, we found out that maybe an hour behind us, there was a fatal accident that shut down I-15 Southbound for three hours. PHEW! So not only did the babies get us to LA ahead of schedule, they could have saved our lives...who knows if we could have been involved in the accident had we left later than we did.
Well, then the Ellen DeGeneres show. It was FABULOUS! It aired on St. Patrick's Day, so sorry if you missed it! But you could totally see us. We were on TV. And I have it on DVD. If you really want to see it, I'll send you a copy :-) ANYWAYS, the guests were Minni Driver, Cheryl Crow, and the American Idol castoff, David Hernandez. So we got the new Cheryl Crow CD- sweet! And in lieu of American Idol and iTunes teaming up this year, we got $50 gift cards to iTunes!!!! And then the best part...Ellen said "Well, so what are you supposed to play your iTunes on? How about a brand-new 8 GB Video iPod Nano!" So we got iPods!!!! It was amazing!!!! Oh, and my other Ellen claim-to-fame: During "commercial breaks," they play music so the audience can dance while they prep Ellen for the next segment. So random people wave at Ellen and if she's paying attention, she waves back and everyone is all, "Ellen waved at me!" So I did the sign for "I Love You," she looked right at me, and gave it back! So Ellen and I are totally best friends.
The next day, we went to the beach. It was windy. Like really, really windy. But it was still gorgeous. I would like to go back some day. After the beach, we drove to Hollywood to meet Uncle Gary's old girlfriend, Sue. I was really excited to meet her, mainly because she was so important to Gary and since he was such a huge part of my life for such a long time, I felt like I wanted to get to know her, too. She was cute. We didn't have much time together because she had to be at a performance, but we decided next time I'm in LA we'll schedule more time together and catch up.
And speaking of catching up, on Saturday on our way out of California, I got to meet up with Emily Harris. It was SO GREAT to see her! It's crazy that we're growing up and have real jobs and husbands and babies...oye. But it was so nice to sit down and talk with her and hear all about what she's been doing for the past 5 years. Well, after that, we stayed another night at Kate and Zach's (Thanks again, guys!) and came back home. It was such an amazing trip!

Onto Easter: It was practically perfect. The weather was BEAUTIFUL...a perfect warm, sunny day. It made our hunt for our Easter baskets rather enjoyable :-) Then the reason for Easter...Church! The RS presidency basically drew straws to see who would be there for the meeting and the first counselor and I ended up staying. Which I am actually grateful for...it was an amazing lesson! So after church, Zac and Logan and I ventured over to Steve and Becky Beisinger's (Marie and Ben's Parents). In years past, I have hosted a big dinner/Easter egg hunt here. Family and other friends with no where else to go would come and there were always too many people to fit in our apartment, so it was outside. But it was always really nice. Well, Easter came early this year and Zac's siblings all congregated at his brother's apartment, so we got to crash the Beisinger dinner, have all the fun, and minimal work on my part! It was great!

And what's left? OH! I know! I've decided to run a 10K. In Vegas, Kate was telling Dani and I that she's training for a half-marathon. She basically had me signed up to join her, but the race is the end of July, when I'll be back in NY for Sonya's wedding. Then I started thinking 13 miles is insane and I need to work up to something that big. So Dani and I looked for races coming up and decided that 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) would be great to start off. I found a 7 week training program that I'm starting this week (I hope) and in June, we'll be running from Riverwoods to Bridal Veil Falls (and back) for the 10K race! I'm really excited. And then depending on how well that goes...maybe I can do a half (or a full) marathon someday!

Well, I guess that's all for now! More posts to come soon...now that I can type!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Happy Easter!!!

Keyboard = still not working. Easter pictures to sum up the holiday = forthcoming!

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Back from Cali...






I would have posted sooner, but our keyboard crapped out. I have to use the on-screen keyboard which only types one letter at a time. So here's our road trip in picture form...driving, the beach in Cali, and In-n-Out in Vegas! For written details, check out Dani's blog. That is, until we get a new keyboard!

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

California Knows How To Party...


Or so I've heard from the Tupac song. Good stuff. So this is going to be a super short post because I have to write a few essays (so I don't have to do it when I get back). Basically, I have to write 4 essays for my Shakespeare in Film midterm. They're due Tuesday. Yuck. But I'd rather get it done now than have it hanging over my head while I'm on VACATION!!! Which is the other reason this is a short post. Logan and I (and Dani and James) are leaving for California tomorrow and I need to pack! I'm super excited. So here's the game plan:

We're leaving tomorrow after my New Testament Class. The class ends at 2, so I'm hoping to be on the road by three. We'll drive down to Las Vegas and stay the night with Zac's very awesome cousin, Kate. From there, we'll head out when we wake up on Thursday, getting to Dani's sister-in-law's house Thursday afternoon. Hopefully, we'll have a sitter by then, and we'll go to the taping of Ellen at 3. And, well, I'll spare you the details till I have pictures, but we'll head back to Utah via Las Vegas again on Saturday, getting home Sunday afternoon/evening. So feel free to call and ask how awesome the weather is! Love you all!

Sunday, March 2, 2008

My To-Do List...


Today would have been my Uncle Gary's 51st birthday. I miss him and think about him every single day. Some days are harder than others, but he's one person I guarantee I will never forget, even if I wanted to. I was looking for pictures I have of him that I could post, and this one was mixed in with wedding pictures. It was taken in the Palmyra Temple just after Zac and I were sealed. I'm really glad we got married when we did...Gary got to spend the happiest day of my life with me. Clearly, he was pretty happy, too!

So in honor of Uncle Gary's birthday, I thought I'd post this. It's a list of all the things I want to do in my life...in no particular order. Some things I've already done, but I thought I'd include them anyways. It's kind of like when I'm making a daily to-do list and I put stuff I do routinely do, just so I can cross it off (i.e. shower, brush teeth, etc). So here goes:

Graduate in the top 10 from BCS (check)
Graduate from College
Get married (check)
Swim with dolphins
Have a baby (check)
Go hang-gliding
Go to Hawaii
Be an extra in a movie
Go to Paris...just to eat bread and cheese. And pastries :-)
Have another baby
Ride in a helicopter. I'd say fly it, but I'd probably crash it.
Visit the Holy Land
See "Wicked!" on Broadway
Receive so many bouquets of flowers that it fills a room (like in the movies)
Be a redhead (check)
Have a third baby
Learn to play the piano
See the New Seven Wonders of the World
Dance in the rain
Kiss the Blarney stone
Have a fourth baby
Dye my hair totally blond
See Cher in concert (check)
Ride in a gondola
Visit the White House (check)
Meet the President while at the White House
See the Ancient Seven Wonders of the World
Stand in the:
Atlantic Ocean (check)
Pacific Ocean (check)
Red Sea
Nile
Mediterranean (check)
Gulf of Mexico (check)
Sea of Galilee
"Dance the funky chicken at my 75th wedding anniversary"
Go to Spain (check)
Meet a famous actor
Finish a quilt (check)
Meet a famous singer (check- Mike Love from the Beach Boys!)
Work on a political campaign
Read the Book of Mormon in one sitting
Ride on a train
Walk the red carpet at an awards show
Visit all 50 states
Climb a mountain (check)
Go horseback riding on the beach
Go snorkeling
Read the entire Bible
Eat a 1 lb burger by myself
Get Uncle Gary's music published
Have grandchildren
Have great-grandchildren
Sing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Stay up all night (check)
Wear a 100-carat diamond necklace
Meet Rachael Ray...maybe even cook with her!
See a performance in the Sydney Opera House
Be on a game show...maybe even win something
Write a book...maybe even get published
Go on a cruise
Be in a stage production with an audience of 5,000+ (check)
Donate a large sum of money to charity anonymously

I'm sure it will keep growing...but it's a good starting point.