Springer and Tyson

It's the End of the World As We Know It

2012-02-06T20:12:00.000-08:00

. . . or so the Mayan's say . . .

January has actually been a relatively uneventful month. Tyson and I just worked away. It has been kind of exciting to have Tyson begin doing his wedding photography on his own. This past month he had three engagement photo shoots and two bridal shoots. January is the quiet before the storm at Creative Arts, and I just subbed a few extra ballet classes, and helped make some props.

Tyson's best friend, Chris, was in town for the first few weeks of January, so we went down to his brother's house in Salt Lake about three times a week during that time. We had a lot of fun playing games and holding Chris's new (born in December) niece Hattie. :)

Near the beginning of the month, blackberries went on sale for a really good price, so we bought several packages, and I tried out two new recipes: blackberry swirl pound cake, and blackberry crumble bars. Both were really good, and are definitely keepers! :)

The most exciting part of January for me was making Remick's birthday cake. :) He requested a chocolate cake shaped like Leonardo's (TMNT) head. Well, 1) I was pretty sure I couldn't yet carve a cake 3-dimensionally, and 2) if I couldn't do that, it sounded like kind of a boring cake. So, after much thought and some last-minute good luck, I was able to make Rem a cake that looked like Leonardo's whole body (including swords, thank you). It turned out way better than I thought it would, and I am still really happy about it! I even used light green frosting with green frosting gel between layers to be "the secret of the ooze." :D

We had Rem and Amelia over for his birthday on the 22nd, and ate homemade pizza and breadsticks for dinner. After dinner we played Scattergories, then finally opened and played Castle Keep! It was really fun! And then, of course, we ate Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle for dessert. :D

On the 29th, we went down to Spanish Fork to celebrate Parker's 21st birthday. We had a yummy dinner, and then all four brothers played Dominion together. And afterwards we ate cake and opened presents. It was good to see everyone and hang out together again. :)

Aaaand that's it!

It's Been a Long December

2012-01-01T20:06:00.000-08:00

and there's reason to believe maybe this year will be better than the last. :)

It's been another whirlwind month here in Bountiful. :)

Our ward Christmas party was Friday the 9th. After work that afternoon I came home and baked five pounds of potatoes, then walked to the ward building to set up decorations. I drastically underestimated the amount of candy needed to scatter across the tables, but Brother Maynard came to my rescue and went to the store to get more. By the time everything was set up, pretty much everyone had already arrived, and I hadn't showered after teaching! Bleh! So I drove home (Tyson had come when he got home from work), and showered and changed and went back. The evening was really great, with an awesome highschool choir, a movie guessing game with the ward presidencies, Christmas songs, and a message from our bishopric. :)

The next day I finished baking all my Christmas cookies, and arranged them on plates with name tags for everyone. As part of that, I frosted about two dozen Christmas tree-shaped sugar cookies, which was probably the hardest possible shape to try to spread buttercream frosting on. Ugh! Never doing that again! Haha! Then Sunday afternoon and evening I went and delivered them all. Whew!

That Tuesday I subbed a ballet class for a fellow teacher, and then Wednesday right after work I went to a cookie exchange, and came back with a few dozen cookies and recipes. Yum! :D

Friday I packed my suitcase and dragged it up Main Street to work with me. :) As soon as my class was over, my totally awesome visiting teacher arrived and took me straight to the airport. My plane touched down in Michigan at midnight, and my parents were there waiting to pick me up. <3 It was so great to be with my family again!

Some highlights from the week were eating Just Baked cupcakes and watching "Kung Fu Panda 2" with mom and dad, seeing old friends at church, visiting with Naomi and her totally awesome - and newly expanded - family, reading dad's poetry, just spending time talking with mom and dad, having everybody over on Wednesday (and having them like my pies :D ), baking sugar cookies with Naomi and Arianna, making a two-person mosh pit with Rem at Beth and Cody's reception, and eating at Olga's Kitchen with mom, dad, and Remick. I was really sad to have to leave everyone without being able to spend more time with them, but I really had a wonderful trip.

At the Detroit airport I was given the wrong ticket, and then our plane arrived late - and I had a short connection to make in Denver - but everything got straightened out, many thanks to the airport personnel and the speedy pilots. :) My plane arrived on time in Salt Lake at 11pm, but my luggage didn't appear until almost 12:30, and so we didn't get home until 12:45! It was so nice to see my sweet husband again and sleep in my own bed. :)

The next morning was Christmas Eve, and Tyson and I had to leave by 11am to meet with a couple in American Fork who was interested in booking with him to shoot their wedding. And they did! It was his first contract on his own, and very cool to finally have. :) Then we continued south to his parents' house and had a wonderful evening with Christmas dinner, a reading of Luke 2, and opening presents. By the time we left, I was exhausted, but Chris had just arrived from Maryland, so we stopped by and visited with him and his dad for a bit.

Tyson had been getting pretty sick that day, and it was a full-blown icky cold on Christmas morning. :( So I went to church by myself and sang in the choir. It was a really sweet and uplifting meeting. <3 Then I came home and made whole wheat waffles for brunch. Rem and Amelia came over for dinner, and afterward Tyson used his new pastry cutter set to make homemade chocolate-frosted doughnuts. We've decided that next time they need a clear glaze to sweeten them up, but aside from that they were pretty amazing. :) We had a fun evening talking and eating and watching "A Charlie Brown Christmas." :)

On Monday Tyson and I used our Christmas money and went shopping for new shoes. His shoes were falling apart, and my physical therapist has told me I need to get some high-quality support on my feet, so we were very grateful to be able to get new ones. That evening we went over to Chris's house again, too. :)

On Wednesday I took Tyson to work, did the grocery shopping, bought a few things at Deseret Industries, went to physical therapy, packed some dinner, picked up Tyson, and then we drove down to Orem again to spend the evening with Chris. Thursday I did some preparatory baking so that we'll have quick and healthy food once everything starts up again. Friday I cleaned the house - and then we got to celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary! :) We went to P.F.Chang's to use a gift card we were given, but there was a 90+ minute wait. So we made reservations for 10pm, bought tickets to see Sherlock Holmes, grabbed a snack, watched the movie, and then ate dinner! It was a really fun night, and it was so nice to spend time together just having fun. :)

Yesterday I accidentally slept in ridiculously late (almost 11am!), but still managed to do my p.t. exercises, shower, do my visiting teaching, and bake a totally awesome apricot upside-down cake with honey cardamom sauce before we went to Chris's to ring in the New Year. :)

And today our ward began at 11am. :) *sigh of relief*

The End.

Blowin' in the Wind

2011-12-05T20:03:00.000-08:00

I hope you all had a safe and happy - and delicious - Thanksgiving!

The first part of November was pretty packed. I began physical therapy (2 1/4 hours twice a week, plus a 15 minute walk each way), Tyson and I were assigned to be on the committee for the ward Christmas party, and we had to take extra time to prepare and pack for our trip to visit Tyson's extended family for Thanksgiving. :)

Also, on the 7th, Tyson heard back from the job he interviewed for on the 31st, and they offered him the job! After some pondering and prayer, we decided he would take it. It will be a cut in pay, but it will allow him to use his degree, and move him toward his professional licenser. :) Yay!

The week before we left - in addition to our usual multiple jobs and responsibilities - was the Primary Program (which went very well!), a Christmas party meeting, a stake Primary leadership meeting, a dental implant, and a haircut (while the haircut itself didn't take that long, the walk to and from did). Then we drove down to Spanish Fork on Friday night and spent the night at Mike and Caleen's.

The whole family left together the next morning, and spent the day driving down to southern California. Tyson and I stayed with his cousin Carrie (She reminds me a lot of Jacqui - I love her!), and Sunday we went to her ward, which was one of the wards in the last area of my mission! The ward boundaries have been changed a lot, but there were still a few people that I recognized, which was really cool. That Tuesday Tyson and I went to the Newport Beach temple, which was maybe a hair larger than Detroit, but was really beautiful. Wednesday Mike and Caleen took the family to Disneyland, which was pretty fun, and I was even able to ride a few rides despite my back. :) Thursday we had Thanksgiving at his Aunt Susan's house. I made the rolls and upside-down apple pie, and Tyson made pecan pie. There was actually an adventure trying to get the rolls done, since I suddenly found myself without an oven for them (dumb turkey! ;) ). Luckily, is Aunt Beverly lives nearby, and she graciously let us come over and hog her oven. Everyone was so kind and helped me get the rising rolls into the back of the car, and Tyson drove carefully to his aunt's house. He was a huge blessing to me in the kitchen that day, prepping pans for the rolls, and peeling, slicing, and mixing apples for the pie, and then driving the rolls to an oven, all in addition to making his pecan pie! He saved the day!

Anywho, we had a great time with his family that night. They are all so kind and generous and welcoming!

The next day, Tyson took family pictures for his cousins' cousin. Then we went to downtown LA, checked out the Hollywood walk of fame, went up to an observatory, and then went to the Walt Disney Concert Hall by architect Frank Gehry so Tyson could take pictures. At first I stayed in car and read my scriptures. After a little bit, I heard a young woman begin screaming, and was able to make out, "Get away from me!" My heart pounding, I quickly fumbled around and grabbed my phone, ready to dial 911, and got out of the car, deliberately setting off the car alarm in the process, in hopes that it would shake things up a bit. It turns out that the young woman was with a friend and two mother-type women, and had slammed her fingers in the car door. After scaring me that badly, the selfish part of me hopes she broke them all! LOL! I was a little rattled after that (she was still sitting there wailing, while one woman held her hands and the others went for ice), so I decided to join Tyson while he took pictures. :)

The next day we drove home, and were so grateful to be heading the opposite direction of the miles of backed up traffic. :)

I spent the next several days playing catch-up, and trying to get things in order before I leave for Michigan. And then . . .

Wednesday night/early Thursday morning southern Davis county was hit with a windstorm unlike anything I've ever seen. It would blow so hard against our bedroom window that it woke me several times. I had no idea what was going on - wind, snow, hail, snowplows??? Then the power went out around 6:30am, shortly before I got up. It was Tyson's first day at his new job in Salt Lake, so he left and I stayed home and bundled up and cleaned the house. CAA got their power just in time for me to go to work, and we had classes that night. It was then that I realized the extent of what had happened. Not only was most of Bountiful out of power, but so were neighboring Centerville and Farmington. (When the sun set, I could see from my work that the temple and its section of hillside were still dark.) Large trees were uprooted and toppled all over town. Roofing shingles had been blown all over. The signs for the Chase bank and Fresh Market at our corner both had the plastic blown out and broken and scattered. Flying debris had bent over street signs. It was crazy!

That night, Tyson picked me up from work and we went out to eat (warm food!), then picked up some extra candles, and bundled up and went to bed early. Our power came back on shortly before midnight - yay! However, our bishop and his second counselor both had to wait another day or two for power to be restored to their part of the neighborhood.

Saturday was a quiet day. After choir practice, I ran a few errands, then baked Christmas cookies, while Tyson helped a family move, then studied photography while watching football. :)

Yesterday morning a last-minute priesthood meeting was held at 7am, and when Tyson came back, he told me that church had been cancelled for our entire stake. Instead of church, everyone who was able helped pick up branches, cut up fallen trees, and take it all to the city dump, which the mayor had opened until 5pm specifically for that purpose. Another wind storm was slated to hit last night, and they wanted to get everything cleaned up before then. (That storm wasn't nearly as bad, by the way, and everybody is fine and has power still. Whew!) Then Tyson and I went to his parents' house to celebrate his dad's birthday. It was a fun night with great people and good food!

Speaking of food, I tried a recipe for pumpkin bread with a cheesecake layer in it, and it is a definite keeper! It's as if it melts into pumpkin pie in your mouth! And just check out its adorable smile! Also, twice now I've made this upside-down apple pie, and it is fabulous! I have a photo of it before it's cut, but alas, it's too popular for to be able to show you a slice! :)

Just Say No to Vembers

2011-11-07T20:54:00.000-08:00

Happy November everyone!

Late Friday night it began to snow here in Bountiful, and I left for ward choir practice with an inch or so of snow on the grass and trees. :)

Since I last wrote two months ago, I agreed to teach two classes at work: a Ballet Level 3 and a Ballet Level 4. The level three class is just barely old enough for me to get away with a more technical and less creative class (so I don't have to run and jump and roll around myself), and both classes are basic enough that I don't have to teach arabesques or complex jumps or port de bras. I still have to be careful, but I am so excited to be teaching again. I just love my girls!

I've also been to a couple of doctors, and am now seeing a physical therapist for my back. She explains everything to me, which really helps me both to trust her and to be diligent with my exercises. I haven't experienced an relief yet (it's actually been a bit worse this week), but the goal is to slowly increase my exercises while keeping the pain from traveling down my legs (and so far it hasn't). And then we'll take it from there.

Back in September, we had a good Labor Day weekend. The weekend after that was stake conference, for which Tyson and I sang in the choir. The next weekend we had the Failners from our ward over for dinner and played Thurn and Taxis with them. I think that has become our new favorite game. :) (Thank you, Kevin and Jacqui!)

The weekend after that we visited Tyson's best friend Chris's mom, Terry, in the hospital. Actually, we visited her family in the hospital, because she was already unconscious and passed away that night. She had lived with cystic fibrosis, raised six kids, and beaten the odds for a very long time. She was petite and cheerful and funny and welcoming, and she is very missed. We are all comforted, however, by the knowledge that she no longer has to fight for every breath. The next night I attended the Relief Society broadcast, where I heard about the new book on the history of the Relief Society, and was so uplifted by President Utchdorf's loving counsel. :) The next day was Sunday, and we had Chris's brother Zach, with his new - and pregnant - wife, Nancy over for dinner.

The next weekend was General Conference, which was wonderful, as usual. :) We went down to Spanish Fork the night before and spent the night, and then got to watch conference on Mike and Caleen's big TV. :) Caleen also sent us home with pears, raspberries, potatoes, tomatoes, tomatilloes, peppers, eggplant, and squash! While Tyson was gone that evening, I rearranged the fridge and pantry, trying to make "room enough to receive it!" (Malachi 3:10) :D Sunday morning we slept in, made steel cut oatmeal, watched conference, and then drove down to visit Terry's family. (Hence no time for an email last month.) The following morning we attended her funeral. (There was no hurry because she had chosen to donate her body to research. This also gave Chris time to get a flight from Maryland out to Utah.)

The following Friday evening I stayed up late cutting, coring, peeling, and canning 11 quarts worth of the pears Caleen gave me, in the jars she gave me. I'm so proud of myself, but that was sure some hard work! The next morning we drove up to Idaho to attend Tyson's cousin's daughter's baptism. Tyson also took family pictures for everyone that afternoon. It was a beautiful fall day, and everyone was so nice! We had a huge lunch together, then went to the park across from the Idaho Falls temple to take the pictures. :)

The next Thursday, after work I went to a circus-themed murder mystery party with a bunch of sisters from my ward. I was assigned to be a circus goer dressed as a hippie. Type casting, I say! :D When I got there (hair straightened, and all decked out in homemade tie-dye), there had been some last-minute changes, and I was now Sampson the Strong Woman - oops! But whatever, we all had a great time, laughed at ourselves, and ate yummy food. :) That Saturday was the Relief Society's Super Saturday. I slept in, but still had time to go and learn how to make whole wheat bread, no-roll pie crust, and fabric flowers for barrettes and headbands. :)

The next week and weekend were delightfully uneventful. :)

Last Saturday we went to the Marujis' for dinner and a rematch of Thurn and Taxis. :D Sunday we went to the Kellys' for dinner with the Burrs, as a kind of farewell dinner, since Chelsea Burr and I visit teach Rebecca Kelly, and Chelsea is moving out of our ward. And Monday was Halloween! Rem and Amelia came over for dinner (witch fingers, goblin grins, and snake, with brownies for dessert). It was really nice to be able to spend time with them, and to ooh and ahh over the adorable little kids that came trick-or-treating. :)

Which brings me to this weekend, in which we did nothing. Well, not nothing, but it has been relatively quiet; Tyson didn't even have any photography work yesterday. :) Oh! There is one exciting little thing this weekend! The family that recently moved in to the upstairs apartment across from ours was featured in our ward's November newsletter. It turns out, the wife has a vegetarian food blog and loves to meditate, and the husband is a filmmaker!!! We finally connected yesterday, and she wants me to do a guest post on her blog, and I want her to help me learn how to meditate, and our husbands can talk about cameras and movies, and we're going over to their place next Sunday for dinner with another family in our ward who recently became vegans! When I talk to Tyson about them, I keep jokingly referring to them as "our new best friends." Haha!

And of course, I gots to talk about some foods! (even though it's fast Sunday, and I'm ready to devour anything :D ) I've included pictures of the banana cream and chocolate cream pies we ate with the Failners. Sorry that they're partially eaten, I was about to devour the last two pieces when I realized I hadn't taken a picture. :D There's also a picture of the corner of the french apple tart I made for a missionary's open house. I just had to eat a corner or two to make sure it turned out - the crust was so flaky and delicious that I hated to have to part with it. :) And then there's a new staple: cheesy baked penne in ramekins; and a new love: ratatouille tart with cornmeal crust - such a delicious way to use and eat those fall veggies! Then there are the pears and the apple butter I canned. And finally, Halloween dinner. I included the snake before rolling, before baking, and then before eating. :D

the pepperoni-less tail portion was for me :)

cream cheeses brownies dyed orange

Whew! Sorry to have to give you two busy months' worth in one blog! Of course, you could just not read any of it, and I would never be the wiser. ;)

An August Month

2011-09-05T13:52:00.000-07:00

(Okay, so it really wasn't an august month.)

The first week of August was delightfully quiet. I worked for Tyson, kept up the house, cooked, and began doing some daily low-key workouts. But then the second week came, and I taught (or co-taught) eight classes. It was really hard, but quite fun. :) Unfortunately it was quite painful, too. And the ramped up pain didn't subside until ten days later when I saw a new chiropractor. Ugh. So, I am no longer a dance teacher. I really hope that one day I will be able to heal and teach again, but for now I'm done. And, yeah, as you can probably imagine, I'm quite heartbroken.

On the bright side, Jana, the owner of CAA, hired me on at the front desk. I'll be working afternoons/evenings five days a week, which will be a great blessing to our finances. :) And I'll be able to stay a part of such an awesome studio. :)

During the week that I taught all those classes, I went to a "nickel auction" in my neighborhood. Nickel auctions work like this: a bunch of ladies dig out their junk and we bid on it in 5-cent increments. It's silly and really fun. I tried to be inconspicuous about needing to stand instead of sit (sitting just hurt too much!), but I did attract a little attention. Fortunately the wonderfully kind sister-in-law of one of the sisters in my ward was there and recommended this amazing place where she experienced a complete recovery from her neck injuries. I went there, and I like their approach, but to make a long and frustrating story short, we can't afford it. But I still have a little hope that maybe something will work out eventually. :)

Tyson has been working on starting his photography business, and we're beginning to see the first few inklings of clientele. He's received two inquiries from his website that haven't yet followed through, and then one more this week that is ordering two large prints of the state capitol building! Also, one of his cousin's friends was interested in having him shoot her wedding next spring. Yay! I am so proud of him! If you haven't yet, go check out his website at buildingmomentsphotography.com. :)

On the food side of things, my favorite kitchen conquest this month was eggplant rollatini. Since Mike and Caleen have eggplants in their garden (see photo of a white, egg-shaped eggplant!), I wanted something to do with them aside from eggplant parmesan (and this random tasty recipe I found called vegetable tian). Basically, you slice and lightly broil the eggplant, roll some cheesy goodness inside the slices, pour sauce on it and bake it. Yum!

With the chiles, tomatoes, and zucchini Mike and Caleen gave us, I've made chile relleno casserole, tomato soup, stuffed tomatoes, chocolate zucchini bread, and a new zucchini casserole. (They gave me a nice big zucchini!) It's been so fun figuring out how to use such tasty veggies!

I also made the chocolate butter cake recipe from my new favorite book Pie in the Sky. (I have to give the book back to the library tomorrow, and I really don't wanna!) I made a half recipe in case it didn't turn out. The chocolate flavor was really mild (it's supposed to be topped with bittersweet ganache, but I'm lazy), but the texture was perfection! It disappeared quickly. Hee, hee.

Oh, and (sorry I can't stop talking about food!) about a month ago Tyson made his divine pudding from scratch (heavy cream, egg yolks, butter, the whole nine lards - I mean yards!), only he added cocoa to it to make it chocolate pudding. It cooked up beautifully and tasted sinful. Sadly, after letting it set up in the fridge for a few hours, it turned into soup! It was amazingly rich and delicious chocolate soup, but just a little too weird. We didn't know what to do with it, but I didn't want to just throw it all out, so I dumped most of it into a container and froze it. This week I took it out (I really wanted some chocolate!) and scrapped a little off the top. Epiphany! I then thawed it out in the fridge and poured it all into my popsicle molds to make the best fudgesicles ever! I am so proud of me. :D

Life AS I Know It

2011-07-10T11:24:00.000-07:00

Ugh! Sorry for the long silence. I've so rarely had time on a Sunday to sit down and write - and when I have, I've typically taken a nap instead. ;)

So, in brief, in April was General Conference, my birthday, CAA's creative dance concert, and Easter. I LOVED General Conference, as is typical. Elder Lynn G. Robbins' talk about being instead of just doing really hit home for me, as did the story shared by Elder D. Todd Christofferson about the currant bush that grew tree-like and had to be pruned back to become the fruitful bush the gardener intended it to be.

For the creative dance concert, at the beginning of Friday night's performance, a dancer apparently ate too much too close to the performance and vomited her dinner in the hallway backstage where everyone had to walk by. For Saturday's matinee, we found that some of our larger props had been vandalized overnight, and needed to be repaired ASAP. Saturday night had the smallest crisis, with a young dancer brought to the wrong side of the stage. She didn't realize it until the dance started, but she was too young to just dance on and fake it, and so while everyone else danced, she balled her eyes out while a kind teacher ran her over to the correct side as quickly as possible. Poor, silly little thing!

In May, CAA hosted the Utah Dance Festival, and I helped out with that. I also taught the last of my classes for the year, wrapping them up with tests, prizes, and games. I also planted rosemary and thyme in pots outside, and planted impatiens in the former sandbox in front of our living room window.

June was CRAZY! Actually, the first two weeks were quiet and wonderful. Then all the Palmers came into town for a family reunion, and I had to spend time with them. (It was SO wonderful to see you all!!!) Simultaneously, Tyson's best friend, Chris, came from Maryland to visit his family here, and we had to spend time with him. I rear-ended someone, and then was immediately rear-ended myself, scaring me like I've never been scared before, and leaving me without my own transportation. I also now have whiplash and a newly-injured lower back - I'm just glad no one else involved was seriously hurt!

Right around the time our friends left town, we went into full "Youth Conference Mode," since we were the co-chairs. On Sunday the 26th, we met with the youth during the first hour of church, then I taught our Primary class's lesson during the second hour of church, and then Tyson and I sang a duet during sacrament meeting. Whew! Tyson left Wednesday at 2:00 am to go down early to Cedar City to take photographs for his work, and then met up with us for dinner Thursday. That Wednesday, I got sick. I felt awful all that night, and was sure I wouldn't be able to leave with everyone the next morning, but just before morning arrived the intensity ebbed, and I felt well enough to go. :) We went down to Hurricane (pronounced "her-a-kin," for all you non-Utahns), and stayed in the huge (six bedrooms, pizza oven, pool and fishing pond, etc.) house of a church member, swam in their pool, toured historical sites, went to the St. George temple, and basically had a fun and spiritual time. I was totally clueless about how to do something like this, but we have the best youth, and AMAZING leaders, and they made it a wonderful experience! :D

The day after we got back was Tyson's birthday, so we went down to Spanish Fork and had dinner and pie and cheesecake with them. :) The day after that was the 4th of July. Tyson played a game of ultimate frisbee in the morning, and I went to the gym and did a little light cardio per my physical therapist's request. However, before we could shower, a water main broke and we had no running water. Pooh! Thankfully, I have water stored under our bed! Ta-da! We were able to drink, and Tyson was able to bathe before we went to a movie matinee. The water came back on shortly after we got home, and were very thankful!

You know I always have to talk about food, so here it goes! :) Thanks to the fantastically-amazing Kitchen Aid slicer Mike and Caleen got me for my birthday, Tyson and I made several dinners of burgers and oven-fries around Memorial Day. I've included a photo of my veggie-topped veggie burger with my rustic, salty, peppery, garlicky fries. :) Just the way I like them! Nom nom nom!

I came across a recipe for "self-frosting" Nutella cupcakes - golden, buttery cupcakes that aren't too sweet, swirled with rich and sugary Nutella, and then baked. Sooo good!

I also discovered the most amazing blueberry cobbler. The cake portion is the perfect texture with just the thinnest layer of crispness on top, and sweet-tart blueberries underneath. Divine when topped with vanilla ice cream!

On the healthier side, I found this awesome little recipe for pb & j muffins. They aren't very sweet - which makes them perfect for breakfast in my book - and they have carrots, zucchini, 100% whole wheat cake flour, and only honey as sweetener. I'm addicted to them!

April 13th's Groceries

2011-04-13T12:21:00.000-07:00

Alright, here's my grocery haul for this week:

Not pictured are the two 10-ounce packages of frozen chopped spinach that I'd already put in the freezer and forgot to pull out for the picture. The grand total was $53.40. However, I did also buy a bag of dark chocolate Hershey's Bliss at Target, which brings to total to $56.79.

People say that eating healthy is more expensive. It's possible that's true, but I'm skeptical, so here's my fresh produce for the week: romaine lettuce, celery, a cucumber, asparagus, cauliflower, 1.69 lbs of broccoli crowns, three avocados, red grapes, two mangoes, two apples, four pounds of bananas, and two pounds of strawberries. And that comprises less than $17.00 of my total tab, before tax.

How does that compare to your shopping habits? Am I spending too much? I'd love any advice!

Welcome to My OCD

2011-04-06T13:51:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it's not technically obsessive-compulsive disorder. But it is a little odd. I want to really know how much we spend on food each month and week, and just what we get for our money. More than numbers on my Excel spreadsheet (yes, you know I have one), I want visuals. Really these blog entries are for my own compulsive need for information and organization, so if you find them dull, I won't be offended if you skip over them.

So, here's what I bought today for this week's groceries:

And I spent $65.03. Yes, that's 7 cans of chicken, 10 containers of Yoplait, 5 cans of tomato sauce, 6 cans of mushrooms,3 cans of corn, 2 cans of mandarin oranges, 2 cans each of refried beans, black beans, and green beans, and a can of chickpeas. Plus 3 pounds of unsalted butter, 2 packages of tofu, and 2 dozen cage-free eggs. And all the rest.

To accomplish this, I went to Sunflower Market, WinCo, Smith's, Fresh Market, Dick's, and Target this morning between breakfast and lunch. Our planned meals this week are veggie pot pie, broccoli casserole, vegetable tian, and steamed cauliflower with pesto, with plenty of leftovers the other nights, since there's only two of us. :)

Oh, and I spent $0.94 on bananas on Monday.

March Away!

2011-03-28T13:27:00.001-07:00

March has been a full and challenging month. I was sick for the first three or more weeks, and Tyson is just getting over being sick for a week or so. I've done a lot of subbing at work, and the ballet was in the middle of the month (with three dress rehearsals and four performances in one week!). The up-side is that all the extra work for me has brought us extra cash flow. :)

Tyson also launched his new networking website, StudentBill.com. It's designed for people who need help and information for student loans, and for those who are sick and frustrated by them - like us! :D We haven't been able to do much because of the crazy month, but if it sounds like something you'd be interested in, by all means join us! :)

Last weekend Zach, Tyson's best friend's little brother, got married in the Mt. Timpanogos temple, had their reception in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, and had a luncheon the next day at a Brazilian grill in Provo. Plus, Chris, Tyson's best friend, was in town from Maryland (where he's getting his Ph.D.), and so we drove down to Orem and hung out with his family quite a bit, and kept getting to bed quite late! :P It was a crazy weekend, but it was a lot of fun, too, because everyone was just awesome! :) Plus, even though they already had a paid photographer, Tyson brought his camera and took a few shots on the side to see what he could do, and has posted them on Facebook. :)

Whenever/if we move, I've learned that we can't do another basement apartment. Don't get me wrong, I love this little place, but so do the bugs, We now have ants that are constantly meandering around our kitchen and bathroom. I try to sweep, vacuum, and mop every Saturday, but that hasn't helped. What is most frustrating is that they meander underfoot, so I randomly see ant carcases on the floor - or worse, one that I've injured trying clumsily to move around, which just breaks my heart. Stupid ants! I don't want to hurt you, so just go away!!! No solution yet, but I'm working on it.

Also, I discovered something new about our spiders this month: They are circus spiders! No joke! Once one sat on our counter near my drinking glass, and I wanted to encourage it to run into a dark corner where I couldn't see it (Is that really too much to ask?). I slowly nudged my glass toward it, and once I made contact with it, it jumped into the air, curling into a ball, bounced on its back, bounced on its curled legs, bounced on its back again, landed on its feet, and scurried away! It creeped me out, yet left me in awe. :) LOL.

On the food front, we've made quite a bit of pizza with homemade dough the past two months, and I thought I would try something different. several weeks ago, I took enough dough to make a personal-sized pizza, cut it into fourths and rolled those out. Two I filled with raspberry jam and chocolate chips, and two I filled with strawberry jam and cream cheese (to which I'd added a little sugar and vanilla), and folded them into dessert calzones. The raspberry ones were good, but the strawberry-cream cheese were amazing!

Last night we had Tyson's friend Raylene over for her birthday. Since she didn't have any birthday cake preferences, I decided to bust out my checkerboard cake pan set and see what it could do. I made her a chocolate AND vanilla cake, with strawberry (pie) filling and chocolate frosting. For someone as frosting-impaired as I am, I made the cake look surprisingly pretty. Unfortunately, the cake recipe from the cake pan set was dense and rather dry. Pooh! I'm sorry Raylene! I'll just have to use some better recipes in the future, because it was so pretty!

February Wrap-Up

2011-02-27T18:56:00.000-08:00

If you've seen Tyson's recently added Facebook photos, no we haven't had a baby. ;) And if you haven't seen them, you should. :) His cousin Hallie and her husband Mike (who live in Michigan) adopted a baby girl from Utah. We got to spend time with them while they were here, and got to see and hold Eliza when she was just two days old. Tyson was able to work on expanding his photography skills, too, and take some pictures of her and of their son Landon. They are the sweetest kids! (even though Eliza only wanted us to leave her alone during her photo shoots - LOL) And it was so great being able to spend time with them again. :)

Since I last wrote, I saw an orthopedist for my knee, and he said that the MRI looked very similar to a torn meniscus, but that the indicators didn't "go all the way to the bone," like they should. And my symptoms weren't adding up, either. Then he pressed his thumb on the underside of my patella, where I discovered that it's quite inflamed. Ow! Hahaha! So, now I'm in physical therapy for patella femoral syndrome, which is basically unexplained chronic or recurring knee pain. But the physical therapist's observations and recommendations make sense, and I am hopeful for a future with reduced pain. :)

This week I've been struggling with a lot of discomfort in my neck, shoulders and lower back. I can't turn my head much, and I can't lie on my right side. Thankfully, my lower back is about 90% better, and I'll be able to see the chiropractor on Tuesday. Also, I still managed to do my PT exercises four days this week, of which I'm pretty proud! :) Hee, hee.

And, if I start to feel down about it, I think of my awesome visiting teacher who has had a brain tumor her whole life. She randomly falls down sometimes, and doesn't have enough balance to do any real physical activities. She also has to wear a hat and sunglasses all the time to prevent insane light-induced headaches. And she is happy and cheerful and enjoys life! :) (And trying out new recipes! I have a partner in crime! Muahahaha!)

Tyson's website, ArchitectureLinked.com finally received 100,000 unique visitors this month! While I don't understand what that means nearly as well as he does, I know that it will increase our clout with search engines so people can find us more easily, and it helps us make money through advertisers, since we have more potential customers for them coming to our site. Yay!

On the food front, since I last wrote I made Remick a fortress cake for his 25th birthday, complete with gummie bears (both attacking and defending), Tootsie roll weapons and a whipped cream mote filled with Swedish Fish. The cake was devil's food, with whipped cream between its four layers, and finished with a chocolate fudge frosting.

the beginning the finished masterpiece chocolate catapaultgummie bear catapault
battering ramdefending archerwhat four of us could stuff down

For Valentine's Day I baked a cake recipe that I made into cupcakes, mini cupcakes, and a mini layer cake. I piped strawberry jam into the cupcakes and frosted them with strawberry buttercream frosting. The jam needed to be piped in a lot deeper, and the frosting was either too cold to pipe, or too warm to hold it's shape, but they still tasted really good. :D For the cake, I sliced each layer in half, then used a heart-shaped cookie cutter, and cut them each into a heart shape. I then made two mini-cakes, with strawberry frosting between the first two layers, and strawberry jam between the second two. Then I tried coating them with "vanilla melty" that I tinted pink. Not good! LOL! I was trying to imitate Little Debbie cakes, but I didn't have any idea what I was doing, and the stuff was just too thick. The result was more like a Sting song, "Fortress Around Your Heart!" Tyson and I just chipped it off and enjoyed eating the rest of the cake. :D

Oh, and mom, when you come out here (whenever I have a baby), we'll have to make some homemade guacamole for you. We just tried out a recipe for it last night, and it was a keeper! :)

Belated Happy New Year :)

2011-01-23T20:01:00.000-08:00

'Ello! Today has been more exciting than usual. Tyson and I served our first day in Primary. We've been called to teach a class of four 8- to 9-year-olds. It was fun, but definitely took effort. :) Straight from teaching, we both spoke in sacrament meeting (Our ward is backwards and has sacrament meeting last). It felt like leaving the frying pan to go into the fire! :) The day went really well, though, and Tyson's parents came up from Spanish Fork to hear us talk and then had lunch at our place. It was great to talk with them, and it was fun to finally have people in our home. :)

The weather today has been beautiful, too. Over the last few days, the snow has melted, and then today has been beautifully sunny. :) The downside to the weather change, though, is that more than a handful of spiders have crept in and wanted to room with us. I'm not one to kill spiders, but I have made a few exceptions since we moved in. I've caught and released a few, too, but they are really fast, and my arachnophobic nerves can't take too much of that! LOL!

Wednesday was the first Relief Society activity since I moved in. The first half hour were some uplifting talks, and then we just ate soup, salad, and breadsticks, and just talked. We have the best people in our ward, and I had a wonderful night getting to know more of the sisters! (AND they had potato, broccoli cheddar, and artichoke mushroom soups, so I actually had vegetarian options. Sweet!)

I've been subbing a lot at work lately, and I'm so grateful for the opportunities. Class is always an adventure. In fact, one my girls in my oldest class had a meltdown Thursday night because I asked her to face the barre for the degage exercise. She began to cry because she would be able to see herself in the mirror, then suddenly claimed that the rest of the class were mean to her and said things about her when she wasn't there. I'd be moved, except that I'm not convinced that she meant any of it! Oy! A few more times during the class she would call out girls for saying things about her. The poor other girls were quite surprised by all this. And now they probably will indeed talk about her this week. Sheesh! What a night! :)

I have a couple pictures I wanted to share from Christmas baking. I made a simple yule log for Christmas. I've wanted to make a jelly roll cake since I was quite young, and I finally did it! It was really fun, and quite tasty. Thanks for letting me take the jelly roll pan, mom!

Playing Catch-Up

2010-12-26T21:32:00.000-08:00

So, in the more than a month that has past since I last wrote, we had an awesome Thanksgiving with Tyson's family. Everyone - except me ;) - loved Mike's turkey, mashed potatoes, and gravy. Caleen made delicious green bean casserole, frog-eye salad, and this cranberry compote instead of cranberry sauce. It has dried apricots, golden raisins, and cardamom - yum! I experimented with pear pie and "Hooray for the Pumpkin Pie" from the Lion House Bakery cookbook. The latter was quite large and had to be carefully moved into a casserole dish, hee, hee! (See pictures) It was a wonderful day of gratitude spent with family. :)

Tyson and I then moved up to Bountiful into a four-plex. Our location is phenomenal. We're so close to everything, and yet we feel totally safe. I still can't wrap my head around it! I love our apartment, too. We finally have our own washer and dryer, and we have a second bedroom in the hope that kidlings will come soon. Our neighbors across the hall, and the ones just above them are members of our ward - which, by the way is awesome! And our neighbor above us is a quiet man who works nights. I'm beginning to hang now pictures on the wall now, too, and it feels more like home all the time. :)

Right after we moved, Caleen very kindly arranged things so that I could have my knees MRI-ed at her work at no cost to me. It turns out I have a tear in my right medial meniscus. Ha! Take that doctors! I knew there was something of significance wrong! Okay, so it's not much of a victory, because now I can't dance and have to see and orthopedist and probably undergo physical therapy, but I'm hoping that it will be a victory long-term. :)

Also, I love my job teaching ballet on Thursday nights. I have three classes, and two of them make me want to pull my hair out with frustration (!!!), but I still love my dancers and I love preparing for and teaching my classes! :D

We had a sweet Christmas this week. Tyson's work has kept him for such long hours lately that they gave him Thursday off in addition to Friday. It was so great to spend so much time together! :) We had a quiet Christmas Eve with just the two of us. On Christmas Day we drove down to Orem and visited briefly with his best friend Chris's family, then continued on to his own family in Spanish Fork. Remick and Amelia and her sister Beth joined us there. We opened gifts, ate a large and delicious lunch, then all went to see the latest Narnia movie. We returned home and ate desserts - pumpkin pie, apple pie, my black forest pie, and "ugly duckling cake." When we left last night, we stopped by Chris's home again. We sat and talked for a few delightful hours with Chris and his mom, then went home and collapsed into bed. :)

I hope you all had a sweet and Merry Christmas full of joy and love!

Happy Feet, I've Got Those Happy Feet

2010-11-21T18:33:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday I got a call from the owner of the aforementioned dance studio saying she wanted to hire me! Yipee! So I drove up to Bountiful the next day and watched and took notes during the classes I'll be teaching (three instead of four, but I can also make money subbing for other teachers), and got the run down on everything from Diane, the awesome teacher I'm replacing. It's a great studio and I am SOOO excited to teach these classes!!! I also can take the adult ballet class on Thursday nights for free, and yesterday I took the barre portion of a master class taught by a dancer from Ballet West. I am just thrilled to be doing what I love again!!! Woo-hoo!

Late Tuesday night I thought I might be getting sick, and sure enough I've come down with a cold. However, I'd already scheduled a deep-tissue massage for Thursday morning (with a gift certificate from last Christmas, hee, hee), and if I rescheduled less than 24 hours before I'd have to pay an extra fee. So, I got the massage (so nice!) before going up to Bountiful, but the next day the after-effects of the deep bodywork coupled with body aches from the cold were too much! Ow! LOL. (Note to self . . .)

This morning I woke up to snow on the ground, and it made me smile. (It will stop making me smile promptly on January 1st - hee, hee!) Lots of people are sick around here, and I filled in for the teacher in Relief Society today. We have such wonderful sisters in this ward, and the things they shared made it a really sweet and touching meeting. Just another reason for me to feel happy and so blessed! I will, however, stay home from choir tonight. I'm feeling too crummy (physically) and I don't want to get squished between a bunch of people and breathe all over them. :P Additionally, the snow that melted after church was followed by hail that covered the ground in white, which is still being followed by more snow and some crazy wind. Yep, indoors sounds good. And maybe some hot chocolate . . .

15 Minutes of Fame

2010-11-14T22:50:00.000-08:00

So, if you've perused the pages of the November Ensign magazine, you just might have recognized a familiar face on page 113. On that page there's a photo of our group of sisters that attended the General Relief Society Meeting in Salt Lake on September 25th. One of the gutsier sisters called the Ensign cameraman over and asked him to take our picture. We thought it was fun, but never thought that anything would come of the solicited photo op. But, ta-da!

Yesterday I drove up to Bountiful for a job interview at a dance studio. They need a teacher for four ballet classes on Thursday evenings. I don't have much experience teaching dance, yet, which makes my chances quite slim. However, the interview went well, and the owner and I liked each other a lot. It seems like a great studio with a nice, healthy approach to dance, yet with high-quality instruction. AND it's 2 MINUTES from the apartment we're moving into. Oooh! Me wants it!! :)

Aside from that, there's really been nothing noteworthy this week. I am SOOO excited about moving into our own apartment - and getting our life out of storage - in three weeks!!! That keeps me pumped during the days. :) I'm also reading The Way of the Peaceful Warrior, which is pretty interesting (and keeps making me think of Tim). The rest is just business (or busyness) as usual. :)

Daylight Savings Time . . . Oh, Yeah

2010-11-07T22:46:00.000-08:00

So this morning I rolled over and saw that Tyson's clock said 8:34 am. Distressed, I jumped out of bed, got ready, and zoomed over to the church with a few minutes to spare. As I pulled up to the church, though, I realized that there were very few cars in the parking lot. I checked the time on my phone, and realized what I'd done. Ah, daylight savings time! I had completely spaced the fact that the change was this weekend. LOL.

As some of you already know (thanks to Facebook), the big news is that yesterday we put down a deposit on an apartment in Bountiful, and we can begin moving in on the first! It's less than ten minutes from Tyson's work (instead of over an hour which he's been driving since February), and in a cul de sac of four-plexes near an elementary school. We're just around the corner from two grocery stores and our bank, too. I'm so sad to move away from our amazing ward, but I just can't describe how elated I am to move into such a perfect place!

Last weekend, we were about to put a down payment on another apartment in South Jordan. But neither of us felt like it's what the Lord wanted us to do. I was too excited about moving to really listen as I should have, but thankfully Tyson was in tune, and we called back to say we couldn't move in after all. Now I am extra grateful for the Lord's guidance, because the apartment we will have now is better in so many ways. :)

Also last weekend, everyone did their trick-or-treating on Saturday out here, which was really cool. I took a little time to carve a candy corn jack-o-lantern, which I'm pretty proud of, since I didn't know how I was going to do it ahead of time. That night, in the middle of trick-or-treating, a crazy hailstorm pounded down on us! One of the cats got totally freaked out by the noise and curled up on the stairs and just kept meowing. After the hail stopped, though, there was a huge double rainbow we could see from our backyard! Tyson and I both did our best to take pictures of it. :) The next day my celebration consisted of making some tasty Halloween cupcakes. :)

The other pictures are of my favorite recent food conquests. I have fallen in love with Paula Dean's Baked Acorn Squash with Brown Sugar and Butter - it's like having your vegetables for dessert! Also, I've loved Olga's Kitchen's spinach pie since I was a child, so I busted out the phyllo dough again and made Emeril's spanikopita. It has a more pungent flavor, more authentic than Olga's, and it's one of the simplest recipes for spanikopita I've found. I just devoured them! I also tried a recipe for spaghetti squash, which was pretty good and can be easily tweaked. The trick was just getting the knife out of the squash after my initial stab into it - I feel like someone should crown me king for finally getting it out! I tried out a recipe for pumpkin cake, too, and baked the batter in Caleen's awesome pumpkin-shaped mini-cake pan. They were so light and soft and moist! It was like they melted into creamy pumpkin pie in your mouth!

This past Friday night, in order to use up leftover pumpkin and some aging apples, I made some apple-pumpkin muffins with streusel topping for Saturday's breakfast. They were fabulous! Next time I'd like to use all whole wheat flour, so I can feel a leetle less guilty about eating all that sugar. ;P

I apologize for not writing the last two weeks. Tyson and I have been working on compiling a ward directory with photographs, and so our Sunday time between church and choir has been absorbed doing that. Also, after ward choir from 4pm to 5pm, we've been attending the stake choir from 5pm to 6pm, which started two weeks ago. And then more often than not family comes over for dinner. But of course, with the holidays and moving both coming up, I make no promises about the future! :D

Scares and Snuggles and Stupidity

2010-10-17T15:27:00.000-07:00

Monday and Tuesday were pretty ordinary this week. However, Wednesday Tyson came home from work early . . . while I was in the shower. You guessed it: he stealthily opened the door and flung open the shower curtain causing me to leap into the air, flinging the shampoo in my hands all over. Quite literally the most exciting part of my week . . . punk.

Thursday I visit taught one of my sisters - she's a talker and I was there 1.5 hours! In the afternoon I went over to harass Rem and make his life miserable. A job well done, I might add. That night I made veggie pot pie for dinner, which allowed me to use up some odds and ends. It turned out beautifully, half-whole-wheat crust and all. :)

Friday I made tomato soup using tomatoes from the garden. It was pretty good, but for some inexplicable reason it has quite a spicy kick. It only has 1.5 teaspoons of pepper, two cloves of garlic, and one onion - the recipe even called for two, but we only had one. I can't figure it out.

Anywho, after dinner we went over to the Websters to play some Beatles Rock Band. Before we go started, little Sammy toddled in wanting to give me "loves." She climbed into my lap and snuggled up for several minutes - it was just divine! We played Rock Band, ate pie, and then talked until after midnight. It was a great night.

Yesterday I dragged Tyson out hiking near Sundance. It was an exquisite day. However, when I met him after his game of ultimate frisbee, I forgot to bring the camera for him to experiment taking pictures. :( And then it cost $6 a car to get into the park - and of course we had driven separately. And after two hours of hiking through gorgeous fall colors - to a waterfall and back - I realized that I had locked my keys in my car. After trying to figure out a solution, we finally called AAA and they wound their way into the canyon to unlock my door. :P Once we got home, we didn't do much. :) However, we did watch "The Business of Being Born," which was pretty interesting and sparked some good conversation. :)

Today I filled in for a teacher in Primary. It's definitely harder than just sitting through Sunday School and Relief Society, but it was also quite fun. :)

This week Tyson came to me and said that it was time we got out on our own. At first I was a little sad because I really love the people here. But almost immediately I was elated at the thought of having our own home again! So, we're looking at apartments again, and Tyson is filling out the paperwork to make it so that our monthly combined student loan payments aren't more than 15% of our income (right now they're over 34% of our gross income). Of course, it will still be tight, and we'll have to budget even more carefully, but I'm really happy about it. :)

That's it for this week!

10-10-10

2010-10-10T23:47:00.000-07:00

This week I discovered chocolate-covered peanut butter bars. They're my kryptonite. I'm never allowed to make them again.

Aside from that, it was a pretty uneventful week. However, we've had little thunderstorms all week, and one in particular turned into a hail storm, which was pretty fun to see. :)

Yesterday was the most eventful. It was our Relief Society's Super Saturday. The first few hours were a bunch of crafts, none of which really interested me, so I didn't stick around for that. However, I did come in time for the cupcake demo, which was pretty fun. I also coordinated the soups and rolls, and even brought a pot of creamy carrot ginger soup, since I was afraid we'd be shy one pot (we weren't and I took almost all of it home - lol!). And, of course, since I'm on the committee I helped with set up and take down. :)

While we were eating our soup, one of the sisters gave a "re-purposing demo." She's an amazing seamstress, and was cutting up (freehand) old sweaters to turn them into cute clothes for her grandkids while she was talking to us. Then she showed this old printer paper box that she'd covered with coordinating scrapbook paper, and cut out the word "RIBBON" on it. That was plenty crafty and creative for me, but she also attached a dowel inside to put through the spools of ribbon, and she was going to put grommets on one side to pull the ribbon through, so you won't even have to open the box. She also used an old leather belt and somehow (I have to assume magic) turned them into snazzy-looking handles on the sides. How does she think of these things??? I was very impressed. :)

Right after that, I finally went to see Tyson's friend Raylene and got my hair trimmed. I've been too scarred since having it butchered last November (Raylene fixed it for me then, too), to have scissors go near it again. :P She also straightened it for me, which has been really fun - I can wear hats and cool headbands and have them look good! :)

Hm . . . yep. I think that's it!

General Conference Weekend! :D

2010-10-03T22:08:00.000-07:00

It has been sunny and in the 80s all week here in "Zion." ;) Before you get too jealous, though, it rained briefly tonight and we're supposed to have scattered thunderstorms all this week, with highs ending up all the way in the low 60s by Saturday. Yeah, I don't think I want to move back to Michigan anytime soon. ;)

Monday the big thing was finally using Wednesday's berries and making blackberry and tripleberry pies. I was having a "bad pie crust day," so they weren't too cute, but they tasted the same. :) I also made pinwheels out of the leftover dough - Thanks, Jeremy, for that useful and tasty little tip!

That night I also made beans and rice for the second time. Yeah, I know, "Beans and rice. Woo-hoo." But this recipe is GOOD, and I sprinkle just a little cheese on top of mine and I love it! Tyson and I decided to try incorporating it on a regular basis, since it's a really inexpensive meal and it's so healthy. Definitely a good idea. :)

Tuesday was uneventful once again. I tried a new recipe of farfalle pasta with cream cheese, asparagus, mushrooms, and walnuts. Sounded great, but it was just "fine." Edible, but nothing exciting.

Here's an insight into my little psyche: Wednesday morning I dreamed that Remick was shot and killed. Dad and I caught the culprit and were keeping him until authorities arrived. I tried talking to him, but didn't get anywhere because I was being too nice. Then dad was going to "go all Jack Bauer on him," if you will. That thought was too disturbing, so even though I was trying to leave having to watch it, my brain changed the scene. Connie was suddenly there and the perpetrator was a fluffy white puppy! LOL. She stayed with me and the puppy, still waiting for the authorities, and I realized how soft and adorable and sweet it was. Then I realized that Remick "really" was dead. I reeled as agonizing grief and pain and loss instantly washed over me. And then I woke up. Sheesh!

After that lovely start, I went grocery shopping, and then made chocolate covered cherry brownies to bring to the block party that night. After they cooled and I could take them out and reuse the pan, I tried a recipe for "Easy Apple Cake." Sorry, but peeling, coring, and dicing three apples does not count as easy. :P It also had chopped walnuts and dates, which I bought that way - no extra chopping! After you bake the cake, you skewer it repeatedly. Then you bring brown sugar, butter, and milk just to a boil and pour it over the cake and let it sit and soak in. Oh, yeah. It's as good as it sounds. :D And it was too hot to take when the block party started, so we ended up eating it all by ourselves. Oops!

For the block party, we sat on a front lawn and basically just ate and chatted with our neighbors. Nothing fancy, but it was nice to see and talk with the wonderful people we have around us. :)

Thursday and Friday were both pretty uneventful.

And yesterday and today was General Conference! :) There were so many wonderful and inspiring talks, I can't wait until I can read them again. ('Specially 'cause I was going on five hours of sleep yesterday. ;P) One of my favorite quotes was given by Elder Richard G. Scott: "We become what we want to be by consistently being what we want to become each day." I've got to put that on my wall. :)

After Saturday's Conference sessions, Tyson and I caught the end of the Wolverines-Hoosiers game. It was AWESOME!!! Go Blue!! Then he and his dad and his brother Parker went to the Priesthood session - and brought home doughnuts afterward. :D And today was just more wonderful Conference. :)

Molly Mormon Week: Canning, Cooking and Relief Society

2010-09-26T20:47:00.000-07:00

This week was pretty full. On Monday I made two pints of raspberry preserves and four pints of peach butter - and even canned them all by myself. (I am so proud!) I also made tasty little peach muffins (They were especially good with some peach butter on them!), but I waited for Caleen to get home before I started on the pear butter. Coring, peeling and chopping peaches should never be a one-person job! :) So, we made the four pints of pear butter together - which tastes surprisingly like applesauce. :) Not surprisingly, I didn't get much else done that day. ;P

Tuesday was pretty normal. The biggest thing I did that day was pick three eggplants from the garden; peel, slice, bread, and bake them. Then I layered them in a 9"x13" dish smothered with Prego and mozzarella and parmesan for a big "family style" eggplant parmesan. It's one of my favorite dishes, and it uses more eggplant than any other recipe I know. :D

Wednesday Caleen and I picked blackberries and raspberries again. We started earlier in the evening, and the yellow jackets were more alert this time, but became almost comatose as the evening waned. So interesting! It was really a lovely evening, too, with a warm sun, cool wind, mountains on one side, and a farm-filled valley on the other.

Thursday I tried a new pasta dish with sage, tomatoes, and cannellini beans. Unfortunately, I cooked it too long and it got somewhat burnt. I was pretty sad until I tasted one of the more burnt parts. The tomatoes had magically become tangy sun-dried tomatoes, and their skins, as well as the beans', had become caramelized. Sweet! We ate a decent dinner after all!

Friday I tried to make something special for dinner. I baked Lion House rolls, roasted butternut squash, and prepared phyllo-wrapped asparagus. The rolls turned out prettier than they have yet - which isn't say much! LOL! The squash was a flop, since it just wouldn't get soft. However, I wrangled the speed-thawed, canola-sprayed and parmesan-sprinkled phyllo dough around the asparagus, baked it, and LOVED it! (Yummy food dance!) It's now one of my new favorite things! Thank you Paula Deen! :D

Yesterday Tyson went to an Ultimate Frisbee tournament up in Logan. He left at 5:30 in the morning, and didn't get home until some time in the evening, then found the energy to go to a friend's house and watch the recorded BYU football game! :) I think he may have overexerted himself, though, because he's feeling a little under the weather today. :(

It was also the Relief Society General Meeting broadcast from the conference center in Salt Lake. Our ward was given tickets, so a dozen of us met at 3:30 and drove up in two vehicles together. After the broadcast, we ate dinner together at the Olive Garden. I finally got home around 11pm, but I had so much fun spending time talking and laughing with the sisters. :)

Not much has happened today. We went over to the Dixons' house and they explained to us everything about being ward historians. Then I went to the first choir practice since the summer. Now I'm going to see if I can squeeze in some blackberry pie-making tonight.

Oh, I did want to share last week that I came down from the stand during sacrament meeting to sit next to Tyson. Little Sammy Webster - who we used to have in Nursery with us until we split it by age - was sitting with her family right across the aisle from us. Out of the blue she toddled over and gave me a big sweet hug. It just made my day!! :D

Head Shots

2010-09-23T20:08:00.000-07:00

I'm starting to do more portraiture in my spare time and I've started with my wife and family, since they'll do anything I want, lol. Just a few for now, but there's more to come!

Mice, yellow jackets and aphids

2010-09-19T21:40:00.000-07:00

My days are filled with working on Tyson's website (www.architecturelinked.com), cooking dinners, doing dishes, running errands, working out, practicing the guitar, and the other necessities of life. Here are some semi-adventures I've had this past week.

Monday I started my day by running some errands, starting in Orem and working my way back south: WinCo, Best in Music, Robert's Crafts, and then Deseret Industries. WinCo is a fairly new store in half a dozen states out west. They don't take credit cards, which helps them to have wonderfully low prices. It's a good half hour north of us, but I'm going to have to get up there more often. Anyway, I bought a few bulk foods there, and when I came home I went down into the cold storage to add my bags to the cardboard box-full that I keep on a plastic 5-gallon drum. As I picked up some of the older bags, I noticed that they kept spilling. Finally I saw it: a hole chewed in the bag. I took my box upstairs and discovered that mice (I think) had chewed through about half my bags - and had totally emptied my bag of golden flax seed. Apparently that was there favorite! So, before I filled my hungry belly with lunch, I spent about an hour moving foods into glass and plastic jars. We've opened the food storage door so that the cats can go in, and I've kept my box in a corner on the counter top upstairs since. :P

Tuesday was pretty uneventful.

Wednesday evening Caleen and I went berry picking. There were yellow jackets hanging out all over the raspberry bushes, and we had to be careful to pick berries instead of bugs. The really cool part, though, was it appeared that the yellow jackets had held an Ann Arbor-esque "hash bash" before we arrived, because they were SO mellow. We could pick right next to where they were perched, shaking the branch in the process, and they just stayed put. We even accidentally knocked a few to the ground, and they just stayed there looking confused. We have an appointment to go picking again this Wednesday, so let's hope they're still so calm! :)

Thursday I was making broccoli casserole for dinner, and went out to the garden to see if there was any fresh broccoli I could use. At first I was excited, because there was a lot of fresh broccoli, but then I realized that it was infected with tiny gray bugs. The very same bugs I unwittingly munched with some organic broccoli many years ago. Spew!!! Seeing them again really gave me the willies! Thankfully I had bought enough broccoli from the store, so I used that instead. :)

Friday night I made chickpea patties with tahini yogurt sauce and steamed artichokes just for Tyson and for myself for dinner. Afterward I scouted out a Martha Stewart recipe for raspberry scones. I doubled the sugar, and my dough turned out too soft and sticky, but I feel it worked out for the best. The scones were perfectly moist and slightly sweet, and made a good Saturday breakfast, too. :)

Yesterday Caleen went on a canning spree. Her mother came over, and the two of us peeled pears and peaches while Caleen hurried around doing everything else necessary to can them. I think she ended up with roughly 12 quarts of each. But she didn't stop there, later she made three quarts of a roasted garlic Roma tomato sauce, and roughly a dozen half-pints of tripleberry freezer jam. With what's left we still want to make raspberry preserves, and pear and peach butters. (Side note: I have discovered that I LOOOVE fruit butters!)

Today I was sustained in church as a member of the Enrichment meeting committee. That plus ward chorister, plus activities committee member, plus a ward historian makes four callings! I thought that in Utah there were so many active church members that I'd have to beg for just one calling! I guess not! :)

So, I've realized how often I encountered vermin this week. I hope reading about them didn't BUG you! Ha ha . . . ha . . . yeah.

Another Week

2010-07-29T22:06:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday Rem came over and hung out and we made mom's "Tofu Fudge Chew" cookie recipe. Because I had thought the recipe called for more than 1/2 lb of tofu, I bought 2 1/2 lbs . . and we decided to use it all. So, we quintupled the recipe. That's a LOT of cookies! We used 15 cups of flour!!! There's still a large container of dough in the fridge that's in the garage. :P I think the sisters I visit teach are going to get some plates of chocolate cookies soon. :)

The next evening my left knee suddenly swelled and got super stiff. I've been hobbling around for days as it has slowly gone down. It made Nursery on Sunday an extra adventure, too! Best of all, my left knee is my "good" knee. LOL! At least, this appears to be exactly what happened to my right knee in October 2008. So I think that if I can just be still long enough, it will heal . . . yeah, I know that's a pretty big "if." ;)

On Friday Mike and Caleen took all their kids and families to the rodeo here in Spanish Fork. They took us last year, too, and it is surprisingly fun. :D The bull riding still makes me nervous!

Yesterday I went to the Bella Natal birthing center in Orem. (No news yet, just want to be prepared and informed.) They have two beautiful rooms with waiting areas and kitchen areas and bathrooms with huge pipe-less jetted bath tubs! I really like the midwife who spoke with me, too. All three of them work together interchangeably, so you'll get to know all three, and you're guaranteed someone you know well will be able to be at your birth, which I really liked. However, she also said that if labor stalls (for, say, 6 hours, she said) they would come to a "mutual decision" with the mother to send her to the nearby hospital and induce her labor. I know they wouldn't make me go, but I'd hate to have that kind of pressure when I'm already exhausted and frustrated. What do you moms think?

And once again, I'm proud of myself in the culinary department. Monday I made french bread from scratch, then heated some minced garlic and herbs in olive oil and made it into garlic bread. Yummy! Also, last night I made my first pesto from scratch - I even cut the basil from the garden - and my first granola from scratch. I'm so happy when new recipes work out! :D

Weekly Emails

2010-07-12T21:28:00.000-07:00

I'm going to start copying my weekly family emails here in case anyone still looks here and would like to know what's been going on in our lives. ;)

So, the big news for this week is that I, Rem, and Amelia bought our plane tickets to come out to Michigan next month. We all take the same flight out on Wednesday the 18th and land around 2:30 that day. Rem and Amelia then stay for a week, and I stay for two (Woo-hoo!). We are all so excited for Drey and Joanne's wedding!

Tyson applied for two jobs this week: one in Seattle and one in Kansas City. He has a phone interview on the 19th with the firm in Seattle. I do NOT like rain and clouds. :P I DO love the sunny dry weather here in Utah. :D Nevertheless, I pray that he gets the job. It would allow him to get in all his hours towards becoming certified, and he could maybe move up in the company, too, since it's an architecture firm and not just a construction firm. :)

I finally used my gift card from Brett and Ricky and bought the new Lion House Bakery book. They have so many yummy recipes I want to try! I originally checked it out from the library and tried the french bread, and that turned out great. :) I just took orange rolls out of the oven, too, and am waiting for them to cool off to top them with glaze. They actually look quite awkward and oddly shaped, but I think they'll taste good, even if they're ugly. :D

Friday morning I woke up early from a dream that Tyson had been killed and I was completely distraught and trying to tell my dad the news. I wasn't able to spit the words out, when I awoke feeling as if I'd been punched in the gut. Bleh! I was so grateful to be awake! Where do these dreams come from? :P

Friday evening we had dinner in Salt Lake with Chris Schwartz, a friend from the Hill Street ward who grew up in Terre Haute. He's a quirky guy, and we had a great time. :) Then Saturday evening was the ward progressive dinner. We and several other couples had appetizers at one family's house, dinner at another, and then we all coalesced into 3 (I think) larger groups for a potluck dessert. The home we were at for dessert had a volleyball net up and Rockband set up outside. Tyson played both volleyball and then drums, and I just sang and played drums. :) As we were leaving, a sister told me that I should be in a band. I laughed and told her I'd love to, if only I could play an instrument! LOL! (I love Beatles Rockband!!)

Nothing really happened of note in Nursery yesterday, but it often does, so I'll have to keep sending emails to share the adventures as they come. :)

That's all I can think of right now. I hope I didn't bore you all to too much, 'cause I'm gonna try to do it again next week. :D

Pineapple Sage and the Fish Trees

2010-04-19T11:08:00.000-07:00

(Doesn't that sound like a great title for a children's book?)

On Saturday, Caleen took me to the tulip festival at Thanksgiving Point. It was a gorgeous day, and we had a great time taking pictures of flowers, drinking smoothies, and feeding koi. On our way out, we stopped by the greenhouse and she bought me some herbs. We picked out rosemary and thyme, since we use those quite a bit. Then we chose a "chocolate mint" plant, which, yes, smells just like mint with a faint hint of chocolate. Even cooler, though - and we bought it just for the novelty - was the "pineapple sage" plant. It smells like a sage plant that was just watered with pineapple juice. Too fun to pass up!

Another scent oddity grows in our front yard. Several times now I've stepped out of my car and smelled fish. The smell passed quickly as I took a few steps toward the house. I eventually figured out that the off-putting smell was emanating from the blossoms of the lovely flowering trees planted by the street. Go figure!

Easter in Utah

2010-04-05T21:09:00.000-07:00

It got up to 70 degrees this week. The weather has really been delightful lately. You can imagine, then, my surprise when mother nature played a little April Fool's joke on us all on Thursday.

Thankfully, the snow melts relatively quickly here and the ground was clear the next day. However, Easter had yet to be celebrated. On Easter morning we woke up to basically the same thing.

It's going to continue to snow for the next few days (it's coming down again as I type, actually). Spring is then scheduled to prevail.

Snow wasn't the only thing that was white and fluffy on Easter Sunday. I know you're all thinking about the Eater Bunny, but I'm referring to my first time making a coconut cake. As I initially looked for recipes on allrecipes.com, all I could find were variations on, "Buy a cake mix. Add coconut." I wanted to actually make the cake, so I looked on foodnetwork.com, and found Alton Brown's recipe, which started with, "Buy a coconut. Drain and reserve the water." Holy smokes! Isn't there something between lazy and insane??? Thankfully, I finally found Paula Dean's coconut cake recipe. :)

I thought it was really a cool recipe. I made a basic cake, but substituted coconut milk for regular milk. Then I made a filling of sorts out of sugar, sour cream, and shredded coconut which seeped into the cake layers overnight. Then I topped it with "7-minute frosting," which I'd never made before, and I think it has the coolest texture - reminiscent of marshmallow cream, only super glossy. Then I carefully pressed shredded coconut into the frosted cake. I have to say, I am very proud of the results.

The cake itself was very mild, but the filling added a moist tang, and the frosting was very sweet. It all balanced out very tastily. :) Thanks Paula!

Of course, the best part of both Saturday and Sunday was General Conference. I took notes during all of the sessions, and I'm trying to begin incorporating some things into my life right away. It seemed to me that the majority of the talks focused around the family and the importance of teaching the gospel to children. Despite the seriousness of his subject, I laughed the hardest during Elder Holland's talk, when he reminded us that we shouldn't even be serving tea. ;) I love the Brethren so much and I'm so grateful for their teachings. <3

Obedience According to Springer

2010-04-02T16:47:00.000-07:00

I was asked by my Institute professor to share a thought during class. I took the invitation as an opportunity to solidify ideas that had been simmering in my brain for some months. So, here it is.

My ability to obey is anchored on two main truths. The first one is that 1) God has always asked us to do hard things. Actually, "hard" is quite an understatement. The examples of these requirements are endless! Here are a handful:

Long before - years before - there were signs of anything fishy (Hee, hee!), Noah was told to build an ark. An ark! Not a fishing boat, not a long boat, but an ark ginormous enough to hold his family, probably more than that "year's supply" of food we're all supposed to have, and who knows how many animals. And some of those animals were really, really big! And dangerous! And smelly! And to top it off, he alienated his family from all their neighbors, and was mocked by everyone around.
Alma and Amulek preached the word of God in the city of Ammonihah, and as a result of their conversions, they were forced to watch all the women and children they'd taught burn to death (along with all their holy books). Just the thought makes me sick. And immediately after that, they were imprisoned and treated cruelly for months.
Joseph and Emma and the early saints suffered persecution, slander, theft, starvation, beatings, torture, rape, and death at the hands of the communities around them - sanctioned by the American government.
Abraham was saved by an angel from being sacrificed to an idol god by his father. He was promised numberless posterity. He had to wait until Sarah was 99 years old before she conceived and had just one son. Then, Abraham was commanded to take Isaac and sacrifice this one, beloved son, to his God.
Which brings me to far and away the hardest thing God has ever asked of any of His children. Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, fell on His face in agony in Gethsemane. He pled with His Father to remove the bitter cup, if it was at all possible. His pure, sensitive soul suffered so much that he bled from every pore. He who had never done anything wrong endured more agony than any of us ever will approach.

I've always loved how Doctrine and Covenants Section 122 puts this all in perspective for me. The Lord describes to Joseph a huge list of hardships he might endure which culminates with, "if the very jaws of hell gape open the mouth wide after thee"! It's then all put into perspective with verse 8: "The Son of Man hath descended below them all, art thou greater than he?"

So, if I sometimes tremble at the requirements of mortality, I know I am in good company - even the best company.

The second truth on which my ability to obey hinges is 2) I know that this is God's work.

When Adam was asked why he offered sacrifices to the Lord, he replied, "I know not, save the Lord commanded me." If the Savior stood in front of me and said something like, "Springer, I need you to do X now." I would say, "Okay!" and scamper off with confidence. But since He isn't with me physically all the time, He's given me and all his children apostles and prophets who speak on his behalf. Therefore, when these men say in General Conference, "We need to do X now," I really try my best to scamper off, because I know they speak for my Savior.

I am of little faith, but I can say with confidence that I know because of Alma 32:33-35: "And now, behold, because ye have tried the experiment, and planted the seed, and it swelleth and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, ye must needs know that the seed is good. And now, behold, is your ^aknowledge ^bperfect? Yea, your knowledge is perfect in that thing, and your ^cfaith is dormant; and this because you know, for ye know that the word hath swelled your souls, and ye also know that it hath sprouted up, that your understanding doth begin to be enlightened, and your ^dmind doth begin to expand. O then, is not this real? I say unto you, Yea, because it is ^alight; and whatsoever is light, is ^bgood."

So, God has always asked and will continue to ask His children to do hard things. And though I tremble at the thought of what He may have in store for me, I know that many others have faithfully endured. I know that President Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God. I love him and his counselors and the twelve apostles with all my heart. I know they speak the words of Christ. I know that the blessings of obedience are infinite and eternal. I know that truly God is love.

Slim Fast Fail

2010-04-02T16:41:00.000-07:00

So, we all know that Slim Fast shakes work by having one for breakfast, one for lunch, and then a "sensible" dinner. This is why I couldn't resist taking a picture of how Slim Fast shakes were in reality consumed in one sitting:

St. Patty's Day

2010-03-21T15:37:00.000-07:00

Since St. Patrick's Day seems to revolve around beer and corned beef, and I'm a mormon and a vegetarian, I've never done much to celebrate. However, I LOVE food, and trying out new recipes, so this year I tried out some mormon vegetarian recipes.

Dinner was colcannon, fried cabbage, and edamame . . .

(True, edamame isn't exactly Irish, but it is green.)

. . . with soda bread.

(It turned out like a giant biscuit, only slightly sweet.)

And sugar cookies for dessert a la Alton Brown's recipe.

Being a lover of brussel sprouts, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the "fried" cabbage tasted like it's little cousins, only less stinky. The colcannon was pretty good, too, but next time I think I'll try boxty - fried potato pancakes sound tasty!

It took me about two hours to make the royal icing and frost the cookies, but the thick, soft, mildly sweet sugar cookie topped with the crisp, sweet frosting is definitely worth repeating. :)

To the Cats

2010-03-10T20:38:00.000-08:00

Dear Sammy, Sunny, Stewart, and Cleo,

There are two litter boxes upstairs and one downstairs. These are where you urinate. If you do not care for these, you are all indoor/outdoor cats, and the entire outdoors is at your disposal if you are so inclined. Regrettably, I must inform you that the carpeting in the hallway, on the stairs, in the living room, and next to my bed are not acceptable places to urinate. Neither are the bathroom rugs or my yoga mat. You have each done such a lovely job of defecating in the correct places, please follow suit with your urination. I'd hate to be forced to contact a violin craftsman.

Thank you.

Role Reversal

2010-02-10T20:39:00.000-08:00

So, Wednesday Tyson called me at my work to tell me that he'd been hired and would start work on Monday! Wow! I was reeling. I knew this day would come, but I had given up actively hoping for it anytime in the near future.

We were both quite excited. Since I finally had a position I really liked, I would continue to work for roughly 9 months (depending on health and fertility, obviously). In the meantime, my income would help grow investments and pay down school loans, and we live off his. We tentatively planned to move out of his parents' house in 2-3 months.

Then Friday morning, more than half of my office was asked to gather in one section of the building. The CEO starting talking about the unexpected financial struggles the company was facing, and finally told us that we were all laid off, and that we could pack our things and go home.

Whoa! In a few days I went from "sugar momma" to housewife, and Tyson went from "househusband" to my "sugar daddy" (Well, except that admittedly "sugar" anythings should probably make decent money, but whatever).

Sadly, I had two co-workers who were also laid off who were the sole breadwinners for theirs wives and children - one of them being my brother-in-law. My heart and prayers go out to them.

Certainly, the path could have been easier for us if I'd been able to keep working. However, I am so grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord in this matter. Truly, I feel as if we are in His hands.

Or, at least out of the fire and into the frying pan. ;)

The Best Christmas Present Ever

2010-01-02T13:34:00.000-08:00

As a Christmas gift to all of us, Kevin and Jacqui paid for tickets and a hotel room for mom and dad to come out here for Christmas. All I can say is, Yay!!!

Tuesday, after I picked them up from the airport and they got settled in their hotel room, mom, dad, and I went to Zupa's for lunch. Then I drove them around and showed them the MTC and the Provo temple. Then we went to Rem and Amelia's place. We talked and laughed for awhile, then I took mom and dad down to Spanish Fork and gave them a little tour of the area and our home. Tyson then joined us and we met Rem and Amelia for dinner at Los Hermanos for dinner. We were really silly and laughed a ton. It was so great to do that over dinner again! After dinner, we all went back to Spanish Fork and Calleen let us pile into her Pilot to go see the local "Festival of Lights."

Wednesday, Tyson and I drove the Pilot to their hotel around lunchtime, then picked up Rem and Amelia and went up to Temple Square. We started with a really great tour of the Conference Center, which was given by a nice of Jonanthan Snow, who dad knew decades ago back in Michigan. We then walked around the outside of the old red mansion next door, then went into the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

From there, we went to the Lion House for dinner. Then we walked around the temple, stopped inside the tabernacle, and squeezed into the crowded visitors center.

Thursday, I went to see mom and dad in the morning, and together we went to the grocery store across the street. I brought them back to Spanish Fork, and we chilled at home for the rest of the day. While at home, mom and I made chippy chewy bars and marbled coconut bark. Rem and Amelia came over for dinner, and Tyson tried out the Lion House rolls recipe.

Tyson and I spent Christmas morning with his family, which was really great. Then I picked up mom and dad and brought them over, and Rem and Amelia joined us a little later. We finally got to watch "Up" together, which I'd been looking forward to ever since I saw it in the theatre.

After another delicious dinner had settled, we played Apples to Apples. Then we broke out the Beatles Rock Band on the Wii. Mom and I sang every song together, and we had a blast!

Saturday morning I went to mom and dad's hotel room to just hang out. Then we drove to Rem and Amelia's. They, in turn, drove us to Kneader's Bakery and Cafe where we ate a yummy lunch - and pastries!

It was finally a clear day, and Tyson, mom, dad, and I had a pleasant drive up to the airport. Saying goodbye was hard, but we were so grateful for the time we were able to spend together.

Playing Catch-Up

2009-12-20T18:01:00.000-08:00

Tyson's computer finally croaked a few weeks ago, and Sundays became busier with all the Christmas choir rehearsals, so I have some catching up to do.

The first thing that comes to mind is that Tyson has put together a nice new computer for himself. He also fixed his laptop, and in the process discovered that none of his photos from Barcelona were lost after all. :)

Some more good news is that I interviewed for and was promoted to the position of executive assistant for the CEO of the company for which I've been working as a customer support rep these past three months. This means a small but significant pay raise and a much more pleasant work day. Unfortunately, the business is making the bulk of its money in a legal but unethical way. I'd love to leave, but with over $450 in student loans each month (and that's just mine, not Tyson's) I don't dare just quit. I've applied for other jobs, and been interviewed for two, but so far I've had no takers. I'm not going to stop looking, though.

Also, there are two other pros to staying with this company. One is that I'm enrolling in medical insurance for the first time in almost five years, and Tyson and I are also enrolling in dental insurance. The other is that the people with whom I work are very warm and supportive. There are some real gems that I just love, and they make work so pleasant. :)

Tyson has yet to find someone willing to hire a man with two master's degrees, a real estate certificate, and who is self-taught in web and graphic design. It's a difficult time for us in this respect, but we have faith that in time this to shall pass.

My service in nursery has led me to volunteer to teach the lesson and lead a "singing time" each week. Truthfully, I'm delighted. I love preparing lessons and songs related to the gospel. I just hope that I can be humble and worthy enough for the Lord's Spirit to be present to teach His precious children.

In less than 48 hours I get to pick my parents up from the Salt Lake airport. I can't wait! Merry Christmas to me! :D

A Semi-Happy ENDing

2009-11-29T19:28:00.000-08:00

So, Tyson's friend Raylene is a professional hair stylist, and he asked her to help me out.Wednesday night I went to see her and she managed to turn my sad mess into a nice hairstyle. :)

(I'm just wishing my mom a happy Thanksgiving in this picture. :P )

I think it's even cuter straightened. :)

The Bitter End of My Ends

2009-11-24T17:55:00.000-08:00

My hair has been getting really long. When I look in the mirror, I've gone from thinking "Meh," to thinking, "Nice!" when I look at my hair. It's been transitioning from being just long hair to being looong hair. I've been feeling beautiful and sexy for a change. I've also been really excited to show my parents its length when they arrive for Christmas.

At 10 on Saturday I had an appointment at Dallas Roberts Academy to get my hair trimmed. I told the girl that I just wanted my ends and the hair framing my face cleaned up for the holidays. She responded by saying I would need layers in the back to make it look right. Surprised, I agred that some light layers would be fine. As she prepared her first cut, she combed up a big section of hair right in the center of my head, like a mohawk. I clarified that I just wanted the front 5% trimmed. She assured me that the layers would be long, then proceeded to cut away HALF the length of the hair she was holding. I was mortified. I wanted to run away, but I figured the damage was already done. I felt sick. She proceeded for the next hour to savagely hack away at my patiently grown hair while I tried not to vomit or cry.

When she finally finished, her instructor came to inspect it. She, in her turn, grabbed chunks of my hair, and demonstrated an "effective technique" for cutting curly hair by partially opening her scissors and running it through my hair. I was all I could do to not scream at her to stop butchering my hair.

I stumbled out the door, and ran to my car as the tears began streaming out. I cried all the way home, then awoke poor Tyson by sobbing uncontrollably in his arms.

He was so sweet and comforting. So was Calleen. Tyson also called the academy and spoke with girl and described to her the fallout of her imprudent actions.

My long, thick ends are gone. I've lost probably four inches of hair (when even she agreed she was only going to cut off one), and my ends are thinned and shredded. All my hair on my right side is longer than on my left, and the hair on the top of my head is just chopped off short.

I used to just pull half my hair back in a barrette, but no more. It's not long enough unless I pull it tight against my head. I also used to pull it into a ponytail when I worked out, and then pull it halfway through again into a loop, and still have a significant amount hanging out. Now I don't even have enough hair for the same size loop, let alone any extra. I've worn my hair stuffed up into a hat the past two days at work, in mourning and protestation.

Here are some pictures. Keep in mind that my curls soften a lot of ugliness.

Aliens Not Allowed

2009-11-08T14:03:00.000-08:00

First, I have to say that the weather this week has been divine! It's been sunny and in the 60s every day! I am loving it!

The highlights for me this week were receiving a Priesthood blessing of comfort from Tyson, giving my friend Crystal a massage, and actually being able to get in a full workout every day except Wednesday. :) The blessing helped a lot. I was getting quite depressed, and it was reassuring to know that we have a purpose to fulfill here, and that our circumstances will change once that purpose is fulfilled.

Also, last night we hung out with Chris and Raylene and went to see the movie "The Box," which is based off of the short story "Button, Button." (It was also made into a Twilight Zone episode in the '80s.) I have to give the movie a great big "Bleh!" As soon as alien-controlled-zombie-people are explaining my choices between "eternal salvation" and "eternal damnation," you've lost my interest. The movie "Knowing" makes the same kind of mistake. God is love. He is not a bunch of detached aliens playing puppeteers with our lives. Period.

Not wanting to end so negatively ( :D ), I'd like to say that we watched "The Brother's Bloom" a while back, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. One of the better movies I've seen in some time. Quite quirky, but very sweet.

Not Quite Domestic Homicide

2009-11-08T13:51:00.000-08:00

Tuesday evening was kind of tough for me. Thankfully, I have a wonderful husband. He was so sweet and loving - and he made me laugh, too. That night I drifted blissfully off to sleep with a smile on my face, grateful to be blessed to be married to such an amazing man.

. . . Then, at least an hour before my alarm went off, he started tossing and turning in his sleep. He'd toss, then turn, then squirm, then flop, then repeat. I was so exhausted, all I could do was almost drift off to sleep before our bed would bounce again, jolting me slightly awake. By the time my alarm finally went off, I wanted to grab my pillow and whack the daylights out of my husband!

Thankfully, the frustration over what he did in his sleep has vanished much more quickly than the gratitude for who is he when he's awake. ;)

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-01T17:11:00.000-08:00

Tuesday Tyson met me when I finished work and we drove up to Thanksgiving Point to go through Cornbelly's cornmaze, but because of the snow earlier that day, they were closed. The next day he called a couple of times to make sure that they'd be open, and we went again.

The maze itself was kind of sad. It had taken a beating for the past several weeks, and it was still kind of muddy. We got a thick layer of mud and corn husks tuck to the bottom of our shoes! :P However, we still had fun. :) We went through the hay snake with all the little kids, went down the slides, admired the carved pumpkins display, warmed ourselves by the fire pit, and ended up buying a large pumpkin for $1 on our way out. :)

Afterward, we swung by Zupas, and I got their Jamaican Pumpkin Coconut soup - which was divine! - and their berry salad, and a "million dollar bar." Tyson got the Wisconsin Cauliflower soup and the California Turkey sandwich. Then we hurried over to UVU for Institute. :)

Friday at work we had our Halloween party. Lots of us dressed up - my team lead Alisha was a ninja turtle, our boss Dave was an obnoxious Utah Jazz fan complete with a 'stash, and one of the executives wore pink pajamas, a pig nose, and a hospital mask to be the "swine flu." Tyson came to the lunch festivities at noon - making me the happiest person there! :D There was a chili cook-off, and pumpkin pie and chocolate cake. :) Then the children that had come went from cubicle to cubicle rick-or-treating. :)

That evening, we had delicious soup that Calleen had made with honey cornbread that Tyson had made. Then we carved pumpkins while watching the Jazz game. I asked Tyson what would be a "Springer" jack-o-lantern, and her said a butterfly. So I looked up images online, and used one as an inspiration. It was fun to flex my artistic muscles again a little. :)

Calleen and I also picked out and baked pumpkin seeds. This was one of my favorite Halloween treats growing up, and I was so tickled to finally have a chance to eat them again. :) (Yay to not having mid-terms!)

Saturday evening we went to Chris's apartment for a Halloween party. Chris, and his brothers Andrew and Zach, with help and encouragement from Raylene, dressed up as the three Jonas brothers. I have no idea who the Jonas brothers are, but they looked sharp - and Andrew's wig made me giggle. :D We all munched and talked, and then played Apples to Apples, Last Word, and Catch Phrase. It was all really fun. :)

Of Food and Failures . . . and Successes

2009-10-25T20:29:00.000-07:00

So Tuesday began as a dark and exhausting day. Thankfully, my loved ones have pulled through and are now on the path to begin the journey toward healing.

That night, Tyson and I wanted to unwind by sharing some dinner together. He found an interesting new recipe online for spinach pesto, so we went to the store and bought everything we'd need - including a food processor. It wasn't until we got home that I realized the box of penne we planned on using was already half empty. So we used a box of shells. Then Tyson couldn't get the new processor to work. He decided he would take it back later that night, and instead went through the hassle of blending the cheeses and fresh spinach in the blender. Only after the final mixing of everything together did it occurred to us that we'd forgotten to chop the remaining fresh spinach. And finally, we think the recipe contained a typo, since the video showed two cloves of garlic being used, but the recipe said three. Yowzas! No vampires will be bothering us anytime soon!

Despite the comedy of errors, it was a good dish, and we made it again tonight - only this time we did it right. :)

Also, Friday night I made the recipe on the back of the box of Barilla Whole Wheat Medium Shells - minus the leek and the mint. It was fabulous! Definitely something to repeat. And Saturday evening I brought together some apples, peanuts, and caramel to make caramel apples for the first time. I discovered the hard way that a slap-chop isn't an effective way to chop peanuts. :P They're not cute, but they're still tasty. :)

Oh yeah, Tyson made a cobbler Saturday night, too. He looked up Paula Dean's peach cobbler recipe, but we didn't have any fresh peaches, and he couldn't find enough home-canned peaches, so he supplemented with some home-canned blackberries. As is easy to imagine, it was divine!

At church this afternoon it was announced that our ward will being moving to the newly finished building much closer to our house. To Tyson's delight, and my dismay, our meeting time is also changing from 1pm to 9am. Goodbye Sunday morning sleeping-in. :P

Finally, thanks to Kevin and Jacqui, mom and dad have their flight itinerary and hotel booked to come out here for Christmas! YAY!!!!!

A Glimmer of Hope

2009-10-18T09:40:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, Tyson called me while I was at work to tell me that his #1 choice firm in Salt Lake emailed him and invited him in for an interview that afternoon. I thought this might be the answer to our fasting and prayers, and I tried fiercely to not be ecstatic. :)

The following day, a few of my customer support coworkers and I were told that a position was opening up that would require no phone work, only working on the computer all day. Again, I was very excited, and wanted to jump up and down, and say, "Pick me! Pick me!" I think three of us were interested, and again I'm hopeful that in a few weeks I might be able to move out of customer support.

Tyson's interview went well, and we are still waiting to hear if he will be called in for a 2nd interview. We expected the call before the week was up. It becomes harder to hold on to hope, but we do our best.

Also, yesterday we attended the temple together. I have a personal goal to attend every temple in Utah, so we drove up to the Draper temple - only to find that it was just closing for regional conference! :P So, we caught some lunch and then drove over to the Oquirrh Mountain temple, instead.

As we were leaving, standing on the temple grounds and looking out over the valley, I could see the Draper temple over toward the right, the Jordan River temple down and slightly left, and then downtown Salt Lake where the temple was eclipsed by larger buildings farther to my left. All while still standing on the temple grounds! It was amazing! How blessed I am to live in the latter days!

Family Pictrue

2009-10-12T00:20:00.001-07:00

It's been a few months since we've updated the blog, but I thought the family picture session would be a good excuse to catch everyone up on us. Nothing terribly exciting, but we have been enjoying the beautiful fall weather and doing some of our favorite fall activities like going to the local cider mill. We also have plans to visit a corn maze this coming week with some friends, which I've never done so we're looking forward to that.

The job hunt continues for me. I met with a great firm in downtown Salt Lake, and the owner really seemed to like my work. His wife also happens to be from Flint, so he was intrigues by my Midwest ties. I didn't get a job offer, but meeting the local firms is a good first step I think. I also got a couple of referrals from him, so I'll follow up with those this coming week. I also got my website up this week which I'm really excited about. You can check it out at www.tysonstevens.com.

You and I, Westward on the Highway Forever . . .

2009-07-06T18:13:00.000-07:00

So, thanks to the invaluable help of our beloved family and friends, we managed to leave Michigan on Wednesday and begin our trek out to Utah. I have to say that pulling loaded trailers behind our modest little Accords was stressful. In some way my favorite part of the journey was several hours in Nebraska when the road was almost completely flat, and I was able to set cruise control and relax a bit.

One of two of my favorite sites along the way was to see the wind turbines near the western edge of Iowa Wednesday evening. They were pretty close to the freeway, and so I got a better understanding of how enormous they really are. My favorite turbine was both close to the road and facing the road. It stood in a small valley next to the freeway, so that the tips of the blades looked as if they were brushing the grass on the shoulder. I'm sure wind turbines aren't all that quiet, but I couldn't hear any sound from it over the noise of my car, and so it towered silently over me, regally spinning against the star-dusted indigo sky.

My other favorite site was the enormous hills that I think were a part of Medicine Bow National Forest in Wyoming. The sunlight was beginning to cut through the clouds after rain, and on either side of the winding road loomed curved hills (or small mountains???) comprised of warm red dirt and frosted with vibrant evergreens. I would love an opportunity to return there one day.

How I've wished that my eyeballs contained cameras! :)

We arrived in Spanish Fork late Friday afternoon and purchased a storage unit. Saturday we emptied our trailers into the unit, and today we returned our trailers to U-haul. It is so nice to have my car back! I'm almost completely unpacked now, too.

Everyone has been so wonderful to us here, and I am so grateful for their kindness! I do still miss everyone back east very much. I won't go into detail about crying. :P Being able to spend yesterday evening with Rem and Amelia was a great comfort to me.

An Unexpected Adventure

2009-06-20T08:47:00.000-07:00

So I woke up this morning and hustled my way down to the airport to catch my flight, only to be delayed due to "mechanical problems," but to my surprise I wasn't alone. One of my classmates was unexpectedly on the same flight. We waited for about 5 hours before they finally got the plane in working order and then off we were to Amsterdam. Problem was that both of us had missed our connections by then, but the airline was nice and gave us accommodations for the night, which left us with a few hours to explore the city.

Downtown Amsterdam is only about 15 minutes by train from the airport, so it was pretty convenient. Keep in mind that the only thing I really knew about Amsterdam was that it had really cool row houses and canals running through the city. As we walked around window shopping took on a whole new meaning. I realize the whole city's not like the redlight district, much like there's more to Las Vegas than the strip, but it was a whole different world compared to what I was used to. A fun afternoon at any rate.

Retracing My Steps: Part 4 - Parc Guell

2009-06-19T08:46:00.000-07:00

Decided to spend my last afternoon in Barcelona at Parc Guell. It really ended up being a nice afternoon. I spent a little more time soaking in Gaudi and met up with a nice lady who sold me some jewelry that I think my wife will like a lot (fingers crossed!). My walk took me back to a couple of days ago when we talked about Frank Ghery. Some of Gaudi's work doesn't really speak to me stylistically, but the fact that he was able to make it happen is just incredible. A lesson I hope to learn as I make my way as an architect.

The class met up at Santa Caterina for one last meal together. It was pretty good. Having eaten so much pork since I've been here I decided to go with a vegetarian dish, which was delish, but then a friend gave me a bite of her suckling pig and I about died. It was the best bite of pig ever! If I ever get back there I'm getting it. We all said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. Viva la Barcelona!

San Sebastian

2009-06-18T08:45:00.000-07:00

We rounded up our two day trip with some fun in San Sebastian. Unlike Bilbao, I though San Sebastian was a really interesting city. It was very subtle though, and I like that. Subtlety is a way of rewarding those that pay attention. Obviously not the best day for taking pictures, but a great experience none the less.

We visited the Kursal Centre by Rafael Moneo. It's a really sweet music hall right on the coast. The inside was great, but if you skip down toward the end of the post and you'll see a picture of it lit up at night which really added a new dimension to it. The windows also really frame the coast in an interesting way.

Our next and final stop was two installations of Eduardo Chillida's sculptures. They are all quite interesting. They pose questions of spacial continuity and order that I think architects ought to do more. For me it was more about implied space, and that intriques me quite a bit. His drawings are pretty amazing too if you look them up. After that we went down to the historic district and had some of the most amazing food I've ever had. Not fancy places like Les Cols, but it was great and there was an atmosphere unlike any other place I've been. Really too bad it was such a short trip, but I'm sure I'll be coming back sometime.

Bilbao

2009-06-17T08:45:00.000-07:00

Today is the first day of a two day excursion to the north coast of Spain. We spent most of the day in Bilbao, and what I mean by that is that we spent most of the day in the Guggenheim. I don't mean any disrespect to the city itself, but there's nothing about it that sets itself apart from any other Spanish town we've been through other than the huge sculpture in the middle of it. Having said that I don't think the Guggenheim would have the same effect if it wasn't interacting with this quaint little city.

Most of my thoughts today revolved around Gehry himself. It seems to me he's a guilty pleasure for most architects. They poke fun in public, but behind closed doors they are in awe. Not necessarily because they think his buildings are so amazing, but because they wish they could get clients to spend exorbitant amounts of money to feed their creative whims. That's the one thing I think you take away from a guy like that, the idea we're not as constrained as we think we are. I think he also reminds us that architecture doesn't have to be so serious all the time. So for what it's worth, enjoy!

Olot

2009-06-16T08:43:00.000-07:00

We took the train to Olot early this morning. The first thing on the agenda was to see the office FOA (Foreign Office Architects). One of the principals showed us around the office and had a great conversation with us in their conference room. They do a lot of great work and it was nice to see first hand the environment where all of that gets produced.

We then went to have one of the best meals I've ever had at Les Cols. The restaurant is a rehabbed historic building designed by FOA and it was pretty amazing. The restaurant made special accommodations for us as a student group and gave us a discounted rate of 20 euros a person.

The restaurant is also a hotel of sorts with really expensive outdoor rooms, but again quite impressive. Nothing like you would expect in the states.

We spent the last part of the day wandering through a remote part of town that had some stunning landscapes. We ended up enjoying it a little too long and some of us missed the bus ride home, mainly due to an incompetent taxi service, but the few that got left behind caught a train just a short while after us, so it worked out.

Last Day In Studio

2009-06-15T08:42:00.000-07:00

Today was a last chance to get together and go over what we've been doing. I'll admit it went a little long for my taste, but it was really interesting to see what everyone had been hiding away in their sketchbooks. Even though it was a great night, it was kind of sad in a way; made me realize that we were that much closer to leaving. I can't complain, its been a pretty amazing trip.

Retracing My Steps: Part 3 - Sert and Water Magic

2009-06-14T14:41:00.000-07:00

Another day trying to find something new in someplace I´d already been. It´s pretty easy actually. Like a good movie, a good piece of architecture gets richer with multiple viewings. I went inside Sert´s museum and onto the roof. The light windows were shut unfortunately, but the space on the roof, as well as the view of the city were remarkable. It was a nice day to find some shade on the roof and sketch.

The only other event on the agenda for today was to catch my last water show at Placa de Espana. I´ve seen it twice before, but I enjoyed it too much to pass up one last chance. It was magical, enjoy.

Retracing My Steps: Part 2 - Gaudi and 1 New Adventure

2009-06-13T08:51:00.000-07:00

Got to Sagrada Familia early this morning to hike up the spires, which was pretty amazing. I can´t wait to come back when it´s finished, but even as it is, it gives you great views of the city and the ocean, as well as of the building itself.

An additional treat of the day was to forge our way up the metro to what we thought was a demolished archery range built for the olympics. Part of the complex isn´t there anymore, but the competition field is still there and has been turned into a soccer (futbol, whatever) field. It was designed by Miralles. The interesting thing to me was to see so many things that came forth in his later work, other than the fact that the thing is just amazing. Enjoy.

Retracing My Steps: Part 1 - Mies and Miralles

2009-06-12T09:25:00.000-07:00

This is the first of a few days to go back and dig a little deeper and soak in some of the amazing things we´ve done and seen. First stop was the Barcelona Pavillion, and I found some interesting ways to photograph the building that I hadn´t thought of before. Added an extra layer of intrigue for me.

Then a few of us went to Santa Caterina to attempt to get a better view of the roof. We met some nice architects that let us onto their terrace above the west side of the Market that gave us an amazing view of the roof. We then went and did the same thing from the north to get a straight on view from the roof. We had to terrorize the residents there, and some of them had to get dressed from their sunbaithing, but we eventually got what we wanted. Really amazing.

Gaudi, Miralles, Everything! A Hitchhikers Guide to Architecture

2009-06-11T08:32:00.001-07:00

Hitting the last few major projects in the Barcelona area, we bussed our way out to Colonia Guell to see the final Gaudi project of the trip. The project was actually an industrial town with the church being the crowning piece. Unfortunately the industry suffered and construction on the church stopped, having completed only the crypt, which is what is photographed below. I´m not sure what it would´ve looked like finished, but I´m actually ok with it staying just the way it is.

We then went to Miralles´Igualada Cemetery. It is and will probably stay incomplete, but it´s still an amazing project. Has many classic Miralles elements with a few unexpected geometrical moves that I found very delighting.

We found Miralles´grave, which is adorned by a likeness of one of his 1955 sketches. The tomb is covered with signatures from various people and now from me, I didn´t think anyone would mind.

Porto Take 2 1/2

2009-06-10T11:11:00.000-07:00

I´m cheating a bit here. I actually flew back to Barcelona this morning and have spent all day catching up on the blog, but I had to fit these pictures in here.

After I got home from Santiago de Compostela last night I was really drained. On top of that I had to carry walk with all my stuff to a new hotel for the extra night. Not really a big deal, I was just drained from being in the car all day and not sleeping much the past few days.

When I got to the hotel it was still raining. It was really disappointing because, while we got to see a lot of Siza in Porto I didn´t get to see the city really, so despite the rain and my exhaustion I walked outside for one last Porto adventure.

It was a really nice night really. I got quite a few funny looks, but it really saved my trip. As much as I love architecture I´m fascinated with how cities work and what goes on between the buildings even more. Sometimes I also just like to see where the city takes me. Tonight it took me here, enjoy.

Santiago de Compostela

2009-06-09T10:39:00.000-07:00

Decided to stay in this part of the country an extra day and get some more Siza in. Wanted to see two projects in the city of Santiago de Compostela. Both buildings are part of the university there and were pretty interesting and worthwhile.

We had to rent a car to get there, which I ended up driving. Good times. Probably wouldn´t have been so bad had it not been for the rain, but you can´t really plan these things I guess. The Portugese and Spanish countrysides were absolutely amazing and beautiful. Some of the most lush green hills and valleys that I´ve ever seen. On the other hand the roads, signs and drivers sucked.

I´m not going to comment much on the buildings. Siza´s awesome and nothing more really need be said. We spent a lot more time driving than we did actually getting to see and experience the architecture, but having got home alive I´d probably do it again given the choice. It was an adventure.

Porto Take 2

2009-06-08T09:59:00.000-07:00

Today was all Siza, and it was good. This first bit is a public housing project he did and I have to say it spoke to me. Not really because the thing is groundbreaking or earthshattering, but because it makes the everyday not so ordinary. I´m sure this commission wasn´t hard to get, but that didn´t stop him from really making the most of it. Let Rem and Liebskind have all the art and music galleries, what we need is someone who will take on the everyday in the same way and with the same intensity.

We then quickly hit the beach. Siza designed a public pool there early in his career and we were looking forward to some drawing time on the beach. Unfortunately we were met by an jerk who wouldn´t let us in, so we snapped a few shots from the fence and moved on (for now) to Siza´s first project, the Teahouse.

Siza designed this house in his early twenties at the beginning of his career. Really unbelievable. The house is a restaurant now, but is the best beach house ever. Every corner was a new insight.

We tried again on the way back from the Teahouse to get into the pool, but the aforementioned grumpy old man wouldn´t have it, and then it rained, so we ran for cover in the closest building that would let us in, McDonalds? A few of us ended up having lunch there, during which we decided we had to try at least one more time to get into the pool.

When we got there the old man had left, but there were still 2 security guards on watch. They wouldn´t let us in at first, but the girls finally seduced them into letting us in and we all went crazy. I think the guards thought we just broke out of the funny house or something. We just ran around snapping shots everywhere for as long as they would let us. We came, we fought, we conquered.

Spent the rest of the afternoon at Siza´s Faculty of Archtecture building. I think this is the third or fourth really good school of architecture I´ve visited and every time I wonder how U of M ended up with such an ugly building. Nothing I can do about that, but we did have a great afternoon walking through the buildings and the courtyards. The trees were remarkable. It was a good day, but by the end I had nothing left, totally wasted.

Porto Take 1

2009-06-07T09:35:00.000-07:00

Arrived safely in Porto, Portugal today and I have to say I´m pretty impressed. I´ve already told my wife we´ll be coming back here, because 3 days isn´t nearly enough. We spent the morning at the Casa da Musica by OMA. Probably the best music hall I´ve ever been to. Totally different from anything you would see around it, but works really well, just neet to step up the buildings around it and it´ll be perfect.

Finally made it over to Siza. I´m sure we´ll get a lot of him this trip, but I think our time here was a little short. We had a concert to get to, so we saw what we could and then left, but it was a really nice space inside and out. I enjoyed the way the structure and the landscape worked together so well.

We finished off the night at the aforementioned concert. I promised myself that I wouldn´t bring a camera so I could just enjoy the evening and experience the music and hall without trying to document anything. Part of me is sorry I followed through with that, but the night was amazing.

Madrid Take 2

2009-06-06T09:16:00.000-07:00

We ended our stay in Madrid on a good note I think. First stop was a pretty interesting project by Hertzog & de Meuron called the Caxia Forum, which looked to be a rennovation of an older building that apparently floats. It´s a nice project, especially in comparrison to the Barcelona Forum. I have to say though that the big green wall next to it stole the show. The name of the landscape architect who designed it is escaping me, but the wall is composed of pockets where the plants grow and covers the entire wall. Really amazing.

Next stop was the National Museum Center for Art. The museum is actually a historic structure, but most of the pictures below are of the extension by Jean Nouvel. A pretty amazing feat of engineering, but also seems to work really well experientially. When you get to the terrace above the horizon of the city is pretty amazing. The art was great too. It houses the famous Guernica by Picasso, but they don´t let you take pictures of that unfortunately.

Madrid Take 1

2009-06-05T15:46:00.001-07:00

After thinking about our day for a bit, I´ve decided there´s no real way to synthesize all that we did and saw. So here it is. The above leaning towers were designed by Philip Johnson, again if you don´t know who he is I highly recommend looking him up. He´s one of the few really likable architects that I know. Passed away a few years ago, but has left us some unique, and yes wierd buildings, but I think that´s part of what I like so much about him.

I couldn´t help but include the project below. I don´t know who built it, but the aluminum detal is delish.

And who doesn´t like a suspended concrete whatchamacalit.

This is the IBM building. I love the window detail. Pretty interesting in terms of concrete fabrication and modular-type construction.

This is a school addition by an architect whose name is escaping me, but it is quite brilliant, particularly in terms of efficiency. For the time it was built it was radical in some ways. Up side down trusses weren´t really the thing then. The way that he was able to maximize space and get natural light into such a complex addition is really amazing. The lady who showed us around was also a sweetheart. Took us around on her lunch break.

This was my last stop with the class today, which I´ll explain in a minute. Another case of nice concrete fabrication. It was all caged up, but you can see a lot of the nice details. A really simple modular idea, but works really nicely.

I split from the group after the church because today would be my last chance to get to the Madrid Temple. I try and attend every new temple within a reasonable proximity to where I travel, and this one was right on the metro. Theres a missionary training center right across the street from this one. I bumped into a couple of missionaries on the way in and one of them offered me a great sandwich. Really lucky for me since I was starving and didn´t have time to pick something up. Made it in time for the last session of the day.

After I got home we headed to this place called 100 sandwiches. Basically they have 100 sandwiches and they all cost a euro. They´re small, but really good.

Ended the night with some desert at Plaza Meyor. It´s a great place to hang out with quite good food and shops.

Toledo via Madrid

2009-06-04T09:55:00.000-07:00

I caught my bullet train to Madrid this morning and it was one of the best traveling experiences I´d ever had. Security was fast, left and arrived on time, zero turbulence. We then caught another train to spend the day in Toledo. It´s an old gothic town that was the capitol of the Spanish empire at one point. A relic of a city and it was fun to spend a few hours there. This was the place that El Greko lived and worked. We got to peruse some of his artwork just before we caught the train back to Madrid. A lot of traveling and only a little of anything else, but when you´re in Europe you´re going to have a few of those days. Tomorrow is Madrid!

Arc de Triomf con Barcelona

2009-06-03T11:28:00.000-07:00

Today is our last day in Barcelona before we head on our big Madrid/Porto trip. We met in studio to nail down some logistics, then our professor gave an inspiring lecture on Alvaro Siza. Definitely look him up if you don´t know who he is. The rest of the day was more or less free, so I headed down to the Arc de Triomf of Barcelona. It is a pretty nice little area. I´ll have to look into the history of it compared to other triumphal arches that I´ve visited. But a nice little plaza where I´m sure fun things happen. The next post will be from Toledo. My first bullet train, I´m pretty stoked. Untill then . . .

Gaudi Inside Out

2009-06-02T15:45:00.001-07:00

We went inside Casa Batllo today. Another one of those times that I can´t say much more than the pictures do. Suffice it to say it blew my mind. Enjoy.

A Walk In The Park

2009-06-01T15:44:00.000-07:00

Took another trip down by the waterfront today to finish what we started a few days ago. The pictures of the park above and below are by the firm FOA. The tile design was based on the luggage carousel common in Europen airports. An interesting comparison I suppose.

We crossed the bridge into the marina. It was a holliday, so I expected more people, but there were a few people skating and perusing the area. You could tell there was still a lot of construction going on in the area, so things might pick up once that gets done.

The next park we went to was still in construction, but you could see some of the interesting fixtures already beginning to emerge. The alien looking things are actually lights. I´m curious to go back at night and see what happens. Pretty cool I´d imagine.

Sunday Water Show

2009-05-31T15:43:00.000-07:00

Tonight I went to Placa de Espana and watched the weekend water show. Not quite the Bellagio, but they did play a lot of 90´s music that you might have heard at the high school prom, took me back a bit. I also got some video footage that I´ll try to upload at some point. It was a nice, relaxing way to spend a Sunday evening after a pretty busy week, hope you enjoy it too.

Gaudi or How I Learned to Stop Depending on Machines for Daily Living

2009-05-30T14:56:00.000-07:00

So I´m going to jump into the future for a second. Two days from now my computer is going to crash and life as I know it will cease to exist. Sad but true. The worst part about this predicament for those reading this is that the blog is going to be significantly less cool. I´ll blog and upload pics as usual, but no image manipulation or videos for now. I´m going to rework the blog once I get home and I´ll send out an email once it´s done, but for now mediocrity is my middle name.

In the meantime, I took this Saturday afternoon to stroll by The Batllo house by Gaudi. I didn´t go on the inside (that´s for this coming tuesday), but the outside was pretty stellar. Also happens to be my wife´s favorite architect, so I thought it would be worth two posts. Enjoy.

The German Pavillion

2009-05-29T14:06:00.000-07:00

Also known as the Barcelona Pavilion by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe , we came here two days ago and then took some time to let it soak in. I went back today, had some gelato and did some drawing. It was a great afternoon.

I know a lot of you might say something like, "I don't get it?" It's ok, I had to look at it for a long time before I got it, and some of it is still lost on me I'm sure. I'm probably couldn't give you any sophisticated explanation of the buildings significance, but I would say its about minimalism, materiality, precision and space conception, but really I think its just about Mies.

Lastly here's the first film I ever made. Obviously not my best work, especially now that I've seen it in person, but it gave me the chance to really discovered Mies, and a big part of what brought me here. Enjoy.

Forum con Barcelona

2009-05-28T07:13:00.000-07:00

Today it was my and Kendal's turn to walk the group around part of Barcelona. This is the same part that contains the amazing photovoltaic in my earlier post ("A Photovoltaic Like No Other"). We met right off the metro and walked through yet another amazing Enric Mirrales park installation (below).

Just across from the park there's an interesting convention center/hotel complex next to the local shopping mall. I haven't gotten inside yet, but there's an amazing view of the ocean from the neck of the building on the left. The complex is a collage turned architecture. Squint your eyes if you don't quite see it.

The last part of the walk we were able to complete (due to some weekend concert event) was the forum by Herzog & De Meuron. It's a really interesting building, but part of me is just not that in love with it. But you do get some interesting moments, and from a certain vantage point the building seems to float. It's a triangular shaped building, but if you walk underneath, you can see places where the building is punctured through and lined with reflective materials. Not too bad.

It's about Mies, but I really think it's about architectural landscape ecology and modernism!

2009-05-27T19:42:00.000-07:00

Well tonight I would have to say it was really about Barcelona winning the cup. I watched the last half an hour or so of the game on the megatron at Catalunya. In about the 75th minute or so Messi headed in a goal off a pretty sweet pass that sealed the deal. It was fun to watch and also to see how crazy the rest of the world gets about soccer (futbol, whatever). I've never watched a full game and I probably never will, but I can always get into a game in a country where people care about it. I mean, if I could get into cricket I could probably get into anything.

Now to the real post. It was a full day. We walked a good 7 or 8 hours, and by the time I was done I was sorry I started, but we did see some pretty amazing things. As the title of the post suggests, the day started out about Mies, but since he will require multiple posts throughout the trip, I'll skip over him and start right into architectural landscape ecology and modernism (as our fearless leader put it.) I will say that our first stop was the Barcelona, I mean "german" pavillion and it blew my mind. Awesome.

We made quite a trek up the hill, passing lots of civic buildings that included what I'm assuming is the capital building as well as other structures erected for the 1929 International Exposition. The place still seems like an exhibition in a lot of ways, attracting mostly tourists and disconnected significantly from the main city, but it is quite a grand space to be in.

As we got about half way up the hill, there started to be various installations within the landscape leading up to the Joan Miro Foundation Museum designed by Josep Lluis Sert.

Our next stop was an interesting above-ground cemetery. The place was like a labrynth. We couldn't tell where it started or ended, but was actually a really pleasant place to be in. As we made our way up we were given great views of the city and the ocean below.

The signal tower below is by Calatrava. Built for the olympics in 1988. They wouldn't let me go up.

We at long last arrived at the botanical gardens. It was a very new project by an old architect, Carlos Ferrater. This is where we get to architectural landscape ecology and modernism. I won't bore you with a lot of rhetoric, but suffice it to say that until I saw this project I thought that those two concepts were utterly opposed to each other. But to see this Mies style building overlooking the gardens was a thing of beauty, and the two seemed totally in harmony with each other. And if I hadn't been utterly exhausted by the time we got there I probably would've enjoyed it a lot more. I may have to take a second trip.

La Sagrada Familia

2009-05-26T17:48:00.000-07:00

Today's walk was fairly short, including only two sites, but they were intense projects that I would say justify a whole day. I'll start from the end and work my way back. We went to the Hospital de Sant Pau. It was designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner at the beginning of the 20th century. The hospital complex made me think a lot of Gaudi's work. It was a very peaceful place where you could imagine people don't mind being cooped up while being treated. An anomole in a world full of cold, poorly conceived big box hospitals covering the globe. There's aparently a lot of talk about turning it into a museum. Idiots. Aparently good architecture is so rare in the world, they all have to be museums lest they get used for something other than tourism.

We then went to Gaudi's masterpiece. La Sagrada Familia. A project that consumed all of his later life until his death in the 1920's. An interesting side note is that his design for the building coincided with trajic deaths of his friends and family members. He turned down all secular projects and devoted himself to this sanctuary. He only completed the north facade in his lifetime. Since then, a similar south facade was erected, but a stark contrast is evident. There was an intenseness in Gaudi's work, perhaps stemming from his personal connection with the project, that couldn't be replicated, unfortunately.

The building is massive, but the amazing thing is that the model shows it nearly twice as tall upon completion. Absolutely unreal. It's slated for completion in 2026, on the anniversary of Gaudi's death. If and when it happens, I'll definitely be coming back. Pretty remarkable.

In the Studio

2009-05-25T16:22:00.001-07:00

We went over our first assignment in studio today. The task was to take plans and sections of the Santa Caterina Market and find ways to reinterpret them through a particular reference within modern art. The parameters of the assignment were very loose, which was evident as we put our work on the table. The results varied quite a bit, which provided for a pretty interesting and lively discussion about the work.

A lot of emotions are in play as you prepare to present work to a group. I had an interesting experience with one of my professors. He had liked one of my ideas very much, and he said to me, "you must have been really confident going into that review." I had been scared out of my mind! Doesn't matter how much time and effort I've put into something, there's always a part of me that's nervous about how the discussion will go and what the reactions will be. Even though this review was pretty low key, I think you can see expressions of what I'm talking about in some of our faces. But more than the nerves I think you can discern a pretty intense focus. It's a really remarkable thing for a group of people to struggle together with a common question, and then make strides to understand it better. A pretty good way to spend the morning I think.