Sum-er Sum-up

Summer is zooming by.  I can tell school is just around the corner, and I am anxious and excited and apprehensive.  I also feel like the weather here has been disrupting my ideas of a calm summer lately.  It seems like our whole country is experiencing strange weather.  Maybe it seems eerie to me because I've been watching all the Harry Potter movies in preparation to see the last two.  I also reread the last book.  Hopefully our strange weather is not really a cloud of dementors.  I had forgotten so much of what happens in that book.  It was a fun reread, but it made me realize why I don't read as much during the school year.  I get sucked into books and abandon all other activities and responsibilities.  Today I finished the book, but didn't brush my hair, shower, put on makeup, or wear real clothes.

Tom and I went to Bridal Vail Falls with my family.  It was warm most of the day, but right when we got to the falls, it started to rain.  It stopped within a few minutes, so we were able to take some pictures.

I like the way the falls looks in the rain.  The colors seem so vibrant.

Here is Tom looking dashing.

 

I wasn't quite as good at looking dashing as he is.  The wind didn't cooperate.

I like the way Telisa's hair matches the rocks in the river.

We are in the process of having tile put into our kitchen/entryway.  I am excited.  Tom and I have been trying to put our home in order.  I bought some baskets to help organize the top of our closet, and it looks very nice if I do say so myself.  I also got a new art desk at a yard sale.  The room with the computer and art desk is still a bit of a mess, but it's much better than it used to be.

Hooray for organized closet space!

In Memory of Max

So, it's been exactly one year since the birth and death of our son, Max.  I'd be lying if I didn't say that it has been an emotional roller coaster the whole time.  Father's Day was a nightmare, let's be honest.  I spent most of church balling due to a baby blessing and primary children singing.  Then, I had to teach a lesson in Elder's Quorum. >.<  Ooof.

Anyway, today was actually much more enjoyable than we thought it would be.  We did fairly well at church and Lovetta survived Girl's Camp this last week even though we thought it might be especially tough being so close to Max's birthday.

After church, we decided to take a trip down to his grave and we realized that some of you may not have seen the headstone yet!  For shame on us!  Here are some pics.

We miss him a lot.  I think that's an understatement, but it should make sense to you.  We always speculate on what our life would be like if he was still with us, but it's inadequate to try.  All we have is our life without him and we're trying to find some happiness in this world despite missing him.

Thanks to all who have expressed their love and support for us during this period of our lives.  You have no idea what you really mean to us.  We know that not everyone understands (or even wants to), so those of you that try are a great support to us.  You're all wonderful!

Summer Festivities

We have a tradition in my family to go to the Orem Summerfest every year.  We went on Saturday.  This year is the first year it hasn't been raining since Tom and I have been married.  It actually felt like summer!  We did all sorts of wonderful summer things.  

Telisa and I rode the ferris wheel.

Telisa rode "the Tornado"

and "the Sizzler"

and... this ride.

Tom and I watching the parade.

Telisa is growing up.  She was riding the teenage rides more than the children's rides.  Tom and I enjoyed taking pictures.  I also loved looking at all the merchandise being sold and the artists displaying their work (I hope someday I will get to do that).  I bought a hat!  We all watched the parade, then we waited in long lines for fair food and had a two different booths run out on us.  But at long last we ended up with a funnel cake (mmmmm), some free cotton candy, a soft pretzel, and some steak and everything nachos which were very salty but yummy.  Last, we watched the fireworks.  Tom tried his hand at firework pictures.  I think these were successful, and I am trying to figure out which one to put as my new desktop.

Ahhh, summer!  I am determined to have a wonderful summer.  I get to teach a summer math enrichment class this week.  We are going to have fun and learn at the same time. (Just like regular school, right?) I am hoping it will still feel like mostly vacation time.  Class gets out at noon, and Tom can come pick me up around 3, so that means I have the fantastic opportunity to do some lesson planning for next year.  This summer I will do a lot of art, especially painting. (You can check out my art blog for updates.)  I also want to do a lot of cleaning and organizing.  We've been living in our condo since October, and we still have a few places of our house that are consistently messy.  I think we need to get a wardrobe, something to help organize bathroom supplies, and something to help with the top of my closet.  Lastly, I would love to replace the laminate and carpet in our kitchen area with tile.  If I can do all of that this summer, I will call it a super success and save the cruise for another time. 

"Amusement" Parks? Sometimes...

Well, as Lovetta has once again kindly pointed out to me, it's been a month and I haven't posted on our blog.  I apologize.  It's not even for a lack of things going on.  Heck, if anything, this last month has been pretty dang busy!  Lovetta just finished yet another wonderful school year and now is prepping for summer school.  I literally just finished working a long day at the Utah Festival of Books, which seemed to go very well.  Last month we took a trip out to Ohio for a romp in the old stomping grounds.  We went out for a few reasons.  These we shall go over in chronological order.

First, was the pilgrimage to the most holy of amusement parks, Cedar Point.  Ashley (my brother's wife) had never been to this wonder of the world and so we had to break her in.  And this we did do.  We hit all of the big coasters for sure.  The Raptor.  The Millenium Force.  The Maverick.  Still, there is one coaster at this park (despite my years of rollercoaster experience) that still makes me feel like I'm going to die.  That coaster is the Top Thrill Dragster.  Why might you ask?  Well let me tell you a story.

So we get in line for our first attempt at the rollercoaster in question.  We wait in line for about 10 minutes (the lines were super short all day long) and then the thing breaks down.  Now, you might think that this is reason enough to stop, but the Top Thrill Dragster is probably the one coaster in the park that breaks down the most.  So, really, this is quite normal.  We wait around.  Some people leave.  Others stay.  After a half an hour, we're pretty close to the front of the line and they decide that everything should be up and running.  Now, if you've looked at the YouTube link of the rollercoaster I made, you'll notice that the thing goes wicked-fast.  0 to 120mph in like 3 seconds fast.  This first car that they decide to "test run" has people on it.  It starts abruptly (more so than usual) and barely clears the top.  Second car?  Barely clears the top.  By this time we're getting seated on to the next car and the nerves kick in.  We get ready to launch and then all of the sudden, my whole world looks like this:

It's one thing to travel into hyperspace.  It's another to feel the pressure of traveling into hyperspace on your entire body.

Up, over and done all in about 17 seconds.  Whew.  That's over with.  I think my brain's about to explode but, it's getting better.  We get off, catch our breath and Dan wants to go for a Round 2 on this thing before we leave the park.  OK.  I survived once.  I can do this again.  We get back in line, and the ride breaks down again right as we're about to get into the next car.  They pull the cars back, we wait for another half an hour.  They send out a test car.  Barely clears the top.  They send out another car.  This time, after making its 120mph journey down the track and up 420 feet of more track, the car teeters at the top and then gently rocks down.  Backwards.  To the beginning of the ride. Backwards.  Did I mention that the thing traveled down the track backwards 420 feet towards the beginning of the ride? *shudder* At that point I wasn't about to let that happen to me (regardless if the riders of that car looked like they had the most awesome time of their lives) and I left the line.  That brought an end to our Cedar Point trip.

Lovetta after the Millenium Force

The remainder of our trip was somewhat less stress inducing.  Dan and Ashley had their Ohio wedding reception.  It was really nice, especially to be able to see so many faces I haven't seen from our old Toledo II Ward.

After the wedding reception was done and over, the only thing left was the sorting of my parents' stuff.  They're getting to a point in life where they are considering some downsizing and some estate planning.  We spent quite a bit of time helping in both of these areas.  We started claiming things that we'd like to have when my parents no longer have need of it and over all this was actually a good experience.  Especially considering that everyone I talked to about doing this were telling me horror stories of family feuds and awfulness.  I love my family! :D

We came back to Utah shortly after this and have been trying to play a lot of catch up.  I think we're just about there, so hopefully I'll start being a little better about prompt blog-posting!

Steak and My Garden

I love warm weather.  I have been looking forward to grilling season since it ended last October.  My new home has been much better than my last place for staying warm indoors, but the weather outside has just started to cooperate.  I'm sure it'll snow on us one more time once we're comfortable, but for now I'm going to enjoy as much outside warmth as I possibly can. 

Today I enjoyed the weather by grilling some steaks.  I love meat.  know it's considered a manly thing, but I can't help it.  I love meat.  Today Tom marinated the steak for a while before we grilled it.  It was heavenly.  Here are some pictures.

Look closely, you can see the smoke.  Mmmmm... grill smoke.

You may be thinking, "Hey! this looks like what a first grader would do if you told them to do something cool."  Well... that's why we work with first graders.  We get it.

In other news, it's time for all the gardening posts.  If you've been following my blog or my life at all, I am sure this comes as no surprise.  Obviously, we can't garden the same way we did last year.  We don't have a backyard.  We had to leave behind our square-foot gardens and our trellis, but that does not mean I am not growing things.  I am.  They make me so happy.  When they grow, that is.  When they droop it makes me droop, too.  I'm still a little worried about our tomato.  Compared to our tomatoes from last year he looks a little gloomy.  Our peas look great.  I'm not sure about the asparagus, I've never grown it before.  I'm already using the dill, cilantro, and basil in things.  Mmmm.

Strawberry, beans, asparagus, tomato, peas, and kale.

Cilantro, Basil, and Dill

Movin' Along

You can always tell when it's my week to write in the blog.  "How is that?" you ask?  Well, my week usually turns into 3-4 weeks.  We've got some pretty stalwart rules for writing in our blog.  When it's one person's turn to write, the other person is not to write a blog post instead should they miss a week.  What this does is create a hanging sense of guilt for not having written for weeks that eventually turns into the blog post you're reading now.  Lovetta's not nearly as wracked with guilt as I am.  She's usually much quicker about taking her turn to write.  Regardless, it is my turn, and my turn I shall take.

About two weeks ago, we had a wonderfully stressful time moving our whole department for the second time in a semester.  The first time, we were moved out on to the textbook floor while they were remodeling our area.  The second time, obviously, was the move back after all was said and done.  I have to say that it looks great!  I have a whole series of transition shots from start to finish, but I'll just try to show you a good before-and-after idea.

So, while this is what it looks like after we stripped everything out, you can still get an idea of what it used to be.

Here is roughly the same view (from a little farther back) once everything got put back in.

Before

After

Before

After (again, from a little farther back)

Before.  See the slightly curved, white wall with windows?

After.  It becomes this cabinet and the wall was straightened out.

There are a lot of other things I'm leaving out, but this gives you the gist of what's been going on at work.  We've pretty much been planning this moment since before I got hired back and we're now starting to enjoy its completion.  It looks great and is pulling a lot more customers in.  We're happy with all of the changes.

On Lovetta's side of things, she's started her own blog without me.  It's probably cause she's tired of waiting for me to post. OR, it's based on her artwork.  One of those two things... Anyway, you can click this link to get there.  It has most of her pieces of art on it (including her new Altered Book), and gets more regularly updated than this blog does.  You should check it out! :)

Art and Stuff

I have been doing some art lately, I just haven't been posting it because it's been gifts for people.  Now that I have given some of these gifts away, I can post them here.  Here is my wedding gift to my brother-in-law and sister-in-law.  (It's an oil painting)

Here is a picture I drew for one of my friends.  (Prismacolor)

I think the color turned out much better in real life, but you get the idea.  I have also been working on an oil painting to donate to the Festival of Trees.  Last year, Tom and I went and saw paintings there, that's what gave us the idea, but I can't find anywhere online that mentions paintings.  They have regulations and rules for what you can donate, so now I'm not sure.  I've been emailing the people on the website about if a painting can count as a "centerpiece or collectible", but no one has replied.  I hope I do get to donate.  I love Primary Children's Hospital, and I think donating this painting could be therapeutic for me.  Even if I can't donate it, I think it will still be good for me.  But, I don't think I'll post any pictures of it yet.  It's not finished. 

I've been feeling a little under the weather lately.  I hope I don't have to take work off.  I hope I can sleep and wake up in the morning feeling perfectly healthy.  I will say, though, times of sickness make you appreciate times of health much more.  When you notice every uncomfortable swallow, you can't wait for the swallows you don't have to think about.