Tea and Scones

I got a text a few weeks ago from one of my oldest friends.  Kristin and I met in first grade and were best pals all throughout elementary school and most of Jr. High.  We got sent to the principal's office together, we won the science fair together, we did dance class together, we did almost every "GT" class together.  Then, like things sometimes do, we drifted- pretty far, actually.  We didn't really talk in high school.  I was a cheerleader absorbed in the awesomeness of my own life, and she was a track star party girl.

We caught up a few times during college when we both were up in Logan.  We bonded over poor life decisions and questions about who we really were and wanted to be.  She made fun of me mercilessly (and rightfully so) when I made out with her cousin after the Famous Preston Night Rodeo.

Nathan and I ran into her and Ashley at the Farmer's Market last summer, but besides that, I hadn't seen her for years and years until Ashley's wedding.  Despite the drifting between me and Kristin, Ashley and Kristin have stayed pretty close since Jr. High.  And Kristin was a part of Ashley's wedding.  For the first time in a long time, we were at the same place at the same time.  Besides superficial his and how-are-yous, we didn't really spend time together in California.  Which was kind of too bad.

Then I got the random text.  She said she had had a dream about me (not a weird one...) and that she felt like we should really hang out and catch up.  She said she was disappointed that we didn't get to talk much at Ashley's wedding.  She wanted to get together for a baking day.  She wanted to wear aprons and stir things.  :)  So we set a date, picked a recipe, and I met her at her cute SoSLC apartment.

On that magical first-snow-of-the-season day, we put on our aprons and got out measuring cups and mixers.  We talked about life, our jobs, our husbands, our hobbies, our families, our pet peeves, and the future.  We baked cranberry lemon scones and steeped marzipan rooibos tea.  And then we grabbed our umbrellas and went for a chilly walk in the snow.  It was wonderful.

I'm glad that she initiated a baking day.  And I'm glad that there will be more in the future.  Even though it has been years and years, and miles of drifting, we still have plenty in common.  And plenty of water under the bridge.  Thank heavens for old friends.  And tea, scones, and autumn snow!

Community and Cookie Dough

We live with my Dad.  Which is awesome.  We love living here.  

But this month he has been gone A LOT on business trips.  Which has been really fun.  Because it's like Nathan and I get to be newlyweds again living in our own apartment doing what ever at what ever time we want.  

So one Sunday night, after spending all Sunday afternoon watching about six consecutive episodes of this show: 

We made a batch of cookie dough and didn't bake any of it.  We just took the entire bowl down stairs for at least three more episodes.  And between the two of us, we ate almost all of it in one night.  

We love Community! And now we can keep up with all of the Community references that out good pals like to throw out. 

I kind of like the fact that sometimes we can be lazy couch potatoes with no regard for adult responsibilities.  I hope this isn't the last time we get to stay up all night watching TV eating cookie dough.  

Conference, Corn Maze, California

I'm getting better at taking pictures of fun stuff that we do.  Cause really, even though we are poor and busy, we mange to do some pretty fun stuff together.  

One of my favorite parts about being a cello player is playing at weddings!  It's so fun to see so many different weddings and the personal touches that the couple adds in to make their day original.  This month, I played at a beautiful wedding up Millcreek canyon surrounded by the bright fall leaves.  The bride had decorated the outdoor space with cute pumpkins and cheerful sunflowers.  It was a chilly day, but a beautiful day!  

I really enjoyed watching LDS General Conference.  On Sunday morning, we carried on my mom's tradition of hosting "Pig Breakfast", which I love.  And because my dad is pals with a member of MoTab, Nathan and I scored tickets to the Sunday afternoon session at the Conference Center.  We sat on the lower level on about the seventh row- right where all of the general authorities come in.  It was really cool to see them that close.  Conference is always great, isn't it?  I'm excited to listen and study each talk more, but on first listening, the strongest message that stood out to me was that we are not alone in hard things.  We are all here to support each other and take care of each other.  I'm so grateful for the friends and family that I have that have been there for me, especially during this past year! And also for my Father in Heaven.  I know that he knows me and loves me.  And that's why conference is great.  

Nathan and I went to the Crazy Corn Maze with Ashley and Ray.  Nathan wishes we would go to a haunted house, but I need to gear myself up for it more before we go.  The corn maze was really fun and got us into the spirit of halloween.  That night, we also rented a scary movie, and plan to continue to watch at least one scary movie a week until Halloween.  

Then it was time for another California wedding.  So we packed up our little Corolla with us and the Dutsons, and headed to Los Angeles.  We drove all day and ended up at the L.A. temple that night around 11:00 pm. This is Braxton and Natalie- asleep WAAAAAY before 11:00 pm.  

The drive was pretty rainy most of the time.  But somewhere in the middle of nowhere Nevada, the rain stopped and the sky was lit up with the most vivid rainbow I have ever seen.  A Double Rainbow!!  This picture doesn't even do it justice.  

This is us taking our turn in the back seat.  Did you know that the L.A. Temple has it's own hotel for temple patrons?  We stayed in the temple hotel that night- Nathan, Braxton and Seth (the groom-to-be) all stayed in the same room while Natalie and I shared the pull out bed in the front room.  The hotel smelled just like every old mormon church I have ever been in, but it was comfy and FREE and even if the boys stayed up all night, I think Natalie and I got some awesome sleep.  

The next day was the beautiful wedding.  Look how gorgeous the L.A. Temple is! Like I have said before, I just love temple wedding ceremonies.  Seth and Ashley's sealing was wonderful.  What a fun couple! 

This is sadly the only picture that I took of the reception.  And it turned out kind of crappy anyway! This is a picture of the top of their cake- two little blue birds with mr and mrs on them.  This wedding was cutely customized with bluebirds, buttons and beads- which totally matches Ashley's personality.  

On the way home, we stopped for a day in Las Vegas- since Natalie had never really been there before.  This is us at the M&M factory watching the free 3D movie.  We also saw the Bellagio gardens and fountain show, drank coke floats at the coke factory, ate at the Cheesecake factory, and browsed some casinos.  Not quite the best Las Vegas trip, but it was nice to break up the driving.  

The last stop before home was to visit our favorite Jeffery Hertig who goes to school at SUU in Cedar City.  He was Nathan's last mission companion and good buddy.  We wish he lived closer, but it's always a happy reunion when we get to hang out.  He fed us a delicious dinner of spaghetti with butter and cheese and chocolate pudding (college food!) and then we played Settlers of Catan- like we do most times that we hang out.  Then we finished our long drive home.  

And then we went back to normal life.  Nursing school.  Music school.  Working.  Teaching.  Homework.  

New Eyes

Yesterday, I flushed an old pair of contacts down the sink.  This happens at the beginning of each month, when the old pair starts to feel too scummy to keep trying to see through.  It's a pretty normal occurrence.  But each time I watch the slightly blue-ish lenses disappear down the drain, I feel a tiny bit nostalgic about all the things I was able to see through that particular pair.  Honestly, without the help of modern opthomology, all of the following would have been a fuzzy blur:

The "Piano Guys" Steven Sharp Nelson and John Schmidt gave a concert at Red Butte Garden that was being taped for a KBYU special.  It was such an awesome show!  The best part was that they did almost every song twice to make sure it was perfect for TV.  The fall leaves were beautiful, and we didn't anticipate how cold it would get when it got dark.  It was a good excuse to cuddle close.  :) 

We were there with my Dad and his high school pal Laurie, who actually hooked us up with the tickets.  She is a fantastic piano player, and she knew that I am a cellist.  The Sunday following the concert, we got together and "jammed" as if we were as cool as Steven Sharp Nelson and John Schmidt.

Our new pals Lacy and Brian invited us to go with them to another concert, this time at the Depot.  We heard Bryan John Appleby, who is a new favorite, Blitzen Trapper, and an old favorite The Head and The Heart. We had gone too long without a concert like this in our lives!  It was a much needed musical recharge.  And it was wonderful.  

After the concert, we headed to Dees for some post-concert yummies, and we had the pleasure of sitting next to a table of drag queens.  Word of caution to cross dressers: If you're going to dress like a woman, you need to sit like one.  No one wants to see up your mini skirt.  :) 

 

 Also with Lacy and Brian, and our other favorite newlyweds Ashley and Ray, we went to our first ever Skatin' Utes hockey game!  It was the season opener against BYU and it was really awesome!  I watched some hockey in Michigan, and love it.  The Utes have a good team and we won 12-5 or something like that.  However, our fans are lame and pretty rude.  At the end of the game, they started chanting "Just like football."  Ha.  Go Skatin' Utes! 

The only pictures of this fun day with JJ and Kaitlyn are of our long-awaited dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings.  Without getting into the saga of how long we waited for each step of the eating dinner process, I'll just say that we got to the restaurant a little after 5:30 and didn't leave until after 9:00.  And it's not cause we stayed forever talking.  Poor service.  Good wings.  

Before the wings, though, we went on a mini hike up behind the bountiful temple to a beautiful waterfall.  With our feet in the crisp water and our lungs full of fresh mountain air, we caught up with these good friends.  

My old contacts also helped me see the season premieres of Glee, Gray's Anatomy, New Girl, The Mindy Project, SNL, and various episodes of The Voice.  I don't know how we really have time to watch this much TV, but I'm kind of disgusted with us.  

Now I have fresh contacts to wear.  I am excited to see in October!