All That Jazz

Ben and I had the last minute privilege to be invited to the Jazz game last Wednesday night. We got to go with a group of international businessmen and women who are working with my dad's company. It was so fun to hear them refer to the Jazz game as "the NBA game" in their many different accents, since most of them had never seen one! We talked to people from Brazil, Poland, Turkey, Germany, the U.K., and the list goes on and on. Making all our new friends was one of our favorite parts! I had never been to a box before, and it was fun to feel on top of the world eating and watching the game! It was actually pretty slow most of the way through until the Wizards started catching up at the very end--good thing the Jazz won at the end!

We were so glad we got to meet so many wonderful people (here's just part of the crew)

We got to take a beforehand tour of the tunnel

And watch them practice

My British friend, Clark; he asked to take a picture with me, haha. He used to be a pro-basketball player in the U.K.

My handsome husband was like a kid in the candy store the whole time

Ben and some famous bb player.....I can't remember his name...

Watching them practice

Front row....for practicing that is...

The Jazz bear came and visited our box!

Pretending we were tourists with the rest of our friends, who actually were tourists--we had such a fun night!

An Elk, Cars, Hyenas, and Outlets

The title pretty much sums up our weekend :)

I love when Ben has holidays off with his banking schedule! This meant a three day weekend for us. We started off the weekend by attending the car show (my second one since last year's) with Ben's family! My favorite part is always looking at all the little features of the new mini-vans: the keep-cool box, foot rests for the captain chairs, a million drink holders, and other little features. Yes, a mini-van is my dream car, seriously. Oh, and my other favorite part is looking at all the new car colors. We had lots of family fun and got to explore several cars!

The boys!

Nat and I enjoying the perks of a car show!

Saturday morning--Ben getting some Oreo dog time. Ben, can we please get a dog? :)

We then took off from the car show in Sandy to spend the night at my parents. Saturday morning I went grocery shopping to prepare my mom a (very, very, very late birthday feast). Then we all met up at the new outlets at Traverse Mountain. I fell in love. Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, J Crew, The Gap, and a kitchen store -- all these dangerously pricy stores in one location. The best part is EVERYTHING was on sale because they were outlets! New favorite shopping place!

The view from my parents' bedroom window

No big deal. Just an elk outside my parents' front yard. 

We then returned back to my parents where I made homemade rolls, funeral potatoes, parmesan yogurt chicken, a salad, and a chocolate caramel cake. In the process of making all this food, I heard my mom and dad yell, "It's an elk, an elk!" My first thought was... deer? I mean this is Alpine, Utah, not the wilderness. So I looked out the window and what did I see? A huge male elk staring back at me! I felt like we were in Yellowstone or something!

Strange animals must have been following us because the next morning at 5AM we were woken to some crazy yapping, howling noises that I had never experienced. My sleepy self could only muster to speak the first thing that came to my mind, "It's hyenas! Hyenas outside!" To which Ben responded, "Hyenas?" Of course, I meant coyotes, but hyenas were the only thing coming to mind. We have laughed since reflecting at our neighborhood hyenas. Apparently, there is a pack of coyotes nearby. I have decided they are the most obnoxious animals ever. This is how they sound:

Be prepared:

It was an adventurous weekend which ended with a much needed relaxing Sunday and Monday. 

The end.

My Top Ten Favorite Books and Why

Reading Tess of the D'ubervilles in England on study abroad with my dear friend Courtney (2007)

I relish the classics. Relish. I guess that's why I got my Master's degree in British literature--no, actually, that is why I got my Master's in British literature. Not all of my top ten favorite books are by British authors, but all of them were born before the year 1900.

Why do I love classics written by those old dead guys and the occasional female?

Two reasons.

They generally focus on characters having to make a choice between right and wrong, showing the consequences that come from both choices. Even when wrong choices are made and tragedy is the result, these books convey an overarching hope for humanity despite human frailties. After reading classics with these themes, I am inspried to be and do better. Those are the best books. The ones that when you get out of your comfy chair and blanket, you want to change, do different and be different.

With characters making such complex choices, the character becomes the focus of the story rather than the plot itself--I love that. From these classics, the compelling truth that we are more alike than different from the people who have gone before us is proven. Through reading the classics, we find that decisions determine destiny more than any plot ever could.

As literature has evolved, it now often blurs the line between  right and wrong. Instead, it often shows people getting away with bad decisions, without consequences. Not to mention, hope has become almost non-existent. The writing styles may be brilliant, their plots fascinating, but the modern novel often lacks the teaching of becoming. I like being taught when I read; I like being taught by characters and being left inspired to do the right thing because of them.

With all of that in mind, I made this list; some may find it filled with works that are didactic, wordy, too long, and with some unrealistic happy endings, but these are the works that have helped shape who I am, what I believe, and who I want to become:

1. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
1. With its risen popularity through the new movie (which I have not seen) and the powerful musical that has left many in tears, most will admit that there is a power in this story of sacrifice, redemption, and good vs. evil. I read the un-abridged version the summer after my freshmen year of college, and I fell in love. The best kinds of books are the ones that make you see both sides to every person--feeling sympathetic yet disdaining them at the same time, such is the case with Javert. Fantine makes you weep, Val-Jean restores hope in second chances, the priest beckons forgiveness, Eponine emulates true love, and the list goes on and on. This is the most soul-seeking book I have ever read.
2. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
1. What can I say? One of my favorite characters of all time--Jane Eyre--is simple, strong, and good. The book is in first person, which means you get to go inside Jane's head. The book has everything: mystery, romance, history, and some of the best lines of all time. With lines like this, “Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour ... If at my convenience I might break them, what would be their worth?", how can you go wrong?
3. Middlemarch by George Eliot
1. Middlemarch explores several different plots and characters that cross paths. It portrays motives, consequences, characters you detest, characters you root for and ends with this line, “But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.” Reading it makes you think about it for days, weeks, and years.
4. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
1. David Copperfield always makes me so happy, even though it can be a tear jerker. It is a classic coming-of-age type tale. The reader follows David as he goes from a little boy who goes through hardships and tries to turn them around for good, into his young adult years where he learns from trials and errors and then finally becomes a man. His choices and character are a foil to so many others in the novel. You see him make one drastic foolish mistake, but he knows he must live with the consequences. This one makes you laugh out loud and cry, all the while relating in some way to this average David Copperfield. 
5. Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
1. "It was the best of times, it was the worth of times," starts one of the world's most beloved classics. It has been a long time since I have read it, but I can still remember how moved I felt when realizing how far the depth of sacrifice can go.
6. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
1. This is a complex romance that leaves girls in agony for half the story--but that's part of the fun of a good romance novel :) It shows how background molds perspective and how prejudices should be withheld until all proof is given. Love this story. Also, I love English history; for instance, North and South depicts factory and mill life vs. the country life in England. 
7. An Old Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott
1. Cute. Cute. Cute. Almost a little too didactic, even for me sometimes, but it was so fun to read a story about a true good girl for a change. I just smiled the whole time.
8. King Lear by Shakespeare 
1. In my mind, this is Shakespeare's crown jewel. Redemption is the main theme, and it's Shakespeare--enough said?
9. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
1. You can't go wrong with Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility is my favorite. Elinor is one of my favorite characters, holding back everything yet showing nothing. I could write a thirty page paper about her, but I won't :) Austen's writing forte is her ability to portray characters so accurately that you will think, "I know someone like that!" almost every time. 
10. Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand
1. This has to be one of the best plays ever written--witty, hilarious, tragic all wrapped into one. You have heard of the man with the big nose who writes love letters to his beloved under the guise of a handsome young man (no doubt, everyone has seen the Wishbone version :) )? Knowing the plot alone is nothing like reading the translated French prose that reads like poetry. I remember reading this in high school and shocking even myself with how much I loved it. Cyrano has to be one of the most sympathetic characters in literary history.

 So here it is. These are the works that have changed my life for good. I think I will have to re-read them all again....

By Myself

It's a Saturday, and Ben is gone ALL day working so I have to entertain myself all day. I think this calls for curling up on the couch, finishing Wives and Daughters that I have been reading forever (an amazingly fun eight hundred page Victorian novel by Elizabeth Gaskell), watching a chick flick, doing some Pilates, and eating an avocado chicken salad sandwich. Oh, and writing a really random blog post:

1. I have been on Pinterest for months and keep wondering what in the world DIY stood for, promising myself I would look it up. When two nights ago I couldn't fall asleep, and it occurred to me Do It Yourself--duhhh! DIY laundry soap, DIY painting....etc. etc. It all makes sense :)
2. I bought my first pair of skinny jeans yesterday--I shocked even myself. I had thought I would never give in, but then I did. I even got a purple pair too, yikes! Lately, I have been struck with how majorly out of style I am. Even though I am not a super trendy person in the first place (I had a roommate once tell me I dress like a librarian...), this time I realized there was a big enough discrepancy in what I am wearing to what is being sold in stores that I needed to give in a little bit. Maybe I will catch up with 2013 eventually!
3. I am working on Personal Progress to go along with my Young Women, and I am again realizing the blessings that come from doing it! The program has totally changed since I completed my own as a Young Women, and it still brings a wonderful feeling of the Spirit and well-rounded accomplishment. 
4. I am loving the new apron Ben bought me for Christmas! I think I am a little obsessed and want to wear it everywhere. The only problem is it's so cute I don't want to get it dirty... I wanted to post a picture of it, but putting up a picture of me taking a picture of myself wear it seems a little vain so I decided against it. 
5. I am realizing what everyone meant by North Ogden=lots of snow. We didn't really experience that last year, but now we are getting the full experience. I didn't realize snowy days could ever be so loud! I always imagined them quite, serene, and peaceful; instead I am constantly hearing snow blowers/scraping against the ice/4-wheelers.

Happy Saturday! 

An Eclectic Post

Once we came back from CA, we spent some fun times with Ben's family and our cute nephew, who is a pro-swifter-sweeper:

We then attended Kim's Open House--beautiful--although we really missed my dad, who came down with the flu and had a fever the night of the Open House and couldn't come :( The crepe bar was genius, and Ben had so much fun taking pictures of the Open House with his new camera!

This is from the actual wedding day :)

The Open House

Ben and I (a little blurry)

The bride and groom

My grandma and Kim

Kim's cute friends

Kim's amazing wedding dresses

Ben has been doing an amazing job facilitating at the Bank. He loves it, and everyone says he is doing such a good job! Even though I miss him because he is gone longer than usual every day, I am so proud of him! Yesterday I surprised him and showed up at the bank when he was finished with work (in the blizzard), and we went to La Ferrovia, and due to Gandolf (the blizzard--yes, it's literally the name of the storm), we were the only ones in the restaurant  And then we slid (blizzard) all the way home. It was simply wonderful!

2012

Here we are; it's 2013 (eight days into 2013), and I am just barely wrapping up my New Years Resolutions--

kind of embarrassing way to start off the new year

Usually, I would have had my list all ready to go by now, but not this year; it's been too crazy the last few weeks. I don't know what 2013 will bring; all I know is that there are so many things I want to change, improve on, and develop that I don't know where to start.

I do know that last year I had seventeen resolutions and that was too many. In years past I have focused on one a month and had twelve, but by the end of the year they fizzle out, so I am still not sure what I need to stay on track in 2013--perhaps some self-discipline?

 However, I have been reflecting on what I have learned about myself in 2012:

• I have learned that as much as I love traveling, I don't like traveling so much that I feel like I am hardly ever home. I dislike living from a suitcase.
• I really miss and love school and need to try to put in place some motivation to maintain and cultivate my love of learning without the formal institution of classes.
• I love baking and cooking more than I ever thought possible. It has been fun realizing I have a new hobby!
• I finally feel semi-confident baking with yeast. If only I had learned that sticky dough was a good thing earlier!
• To every time there is a season--this is true.
• I need to self-initiate cultivating my spirituality without the nets of institute classes, devotionals, and firesides that you automatically would get going to college/being single. Scripture study is always great, but sometimes those little extras would be such a boost. 

So farewell, 2012. 

Welcome, 2013!

La Jolla Trip

The day after Christmas I was feeling much better although not completely myself, but that was good enough for me because the troops a.k.a. the family was heading to La Jolla to spend two nights in a condo on the beach. We headed out to La Jolla, which is one of my favorite CA spots, to enjoy the ocean. We had so much fun taking pictures with Ben's new camera!

We started off by getting settled, exploring the beach, going to BJ's for dinner, walking along the beach at night, and then coming back and playing a vigorous round of Pictionary.

My love and I

A blurry BJ's picture

The entrance of the hotel had Santa's sleigh!

Seth and Leslie!

We loved the beach at night!

We love each other :)

We woke up to a high tide (literally, the tide went to the edge of our hotel). I felt so much better! We had breakfast, went to the cove and watched the sea lions try and kill each other, then explored down town. We came back, and Ben and I walked along the beach for an hour and a half and talked a ton. We went to Roy's for dinner and had a delicious chocolate souffle. We came back and played catch phrase and then had a bonfire on the beach. We loved it!

Ben and I discovered his self-timer feature :)

Right before breakfast

My handsome husband!

Les and I 

The sea lions looked majestic (minus the smell)

Ben and I at the cove

These birds were crazy looking!

Sisters! Love Kim Smith!

The newlyweds

Ben and I by the twisty tree.

\

Seth and Les by the twisty tree

La Jolla was lined with red bows. 

Ben and I our walk along the beach :)

The family bonfire

Ben and I using the self-timer feature once again :)

We woke up the next morning, checked out of the hotel, explored La Jolla a little more and ate at a delicious restaurant with an amazing ocean view. We then came back to the Murrieta house, relaxed, and ate dinner. 

Ben took a few pictures of the outside of the home.  

The next morning it was time to say goodbye. We had such wonderful, family bonding time that it was hard to say goodbye. Seth and Leslie will be staying at the house while Kim and Steve return to BYU-I. With the BYU-I track system, it's hard to keep track of who is coming and going, but regardless of where they are, we love them dearly. It was a perfect family vacation!