A Little Bit of Everything

Wow! Have times been crazy or what? I have lots to catch up on, so here's an all-in-one post that will make our lives sound much more eventful than they usually really are :) 

Since my pictures are not dowloading in order, this post will be "out of order."

I turned 27. It sounds so much older than 26, I decided. My sisters agree 27=way older than 26. 

For my birthday morning, Ben surprised me with beautiful flowers in my Grandma's vase. Ben's mom took me to lunch, and the day ended with a fun visit from my parents who took us to dinner with my sister Mary. We had so much fun with them!

At dinner!

Then we went to "pride rock" in North Ogden. It's a pretty amazing sight in the middle of a bunch of houses and only two minutes from our home! The views in North Ogden are unbeatable--and this is only the valley view. 

I always used to think Idaho just had fields and potatoes. I have been proved wrong multiple times. I love seeing Idaho Falls, where my sister-in-law is from; Island Park and Yellowstone, where Ben's family cabin is; and Sun Valley, where the annual Utah Banker's Association conference is. They are all so different in their beauty but nonetheless captivating. 

We went to Sun Valley for Ben's banking conference, and we loved it, although I was sad to miss Girls' Camp with my girls this year. Here's why I love Sun Valley:

It feels like you're in the Alps with its beautiful mountains and charm! 

 

One of the best things in my life happened in Sun Valley this year! There's an ice-skating rink in the middle of the resort and amazing ice-skaters skate on it, and we got to see several practice. I finally got to see all of the jumps, spins, and twirls in real life. I couldn't take my eyes off of them! SERIOUSLY...one of my life long dreams fulfilled.

We got to go on a gondala ride with the family! This is my version of hiking, by the way, very efficient :)

 

 

On the chair lift!

 

My fear of heights hit me as soon as we moved from the gondola to the chair lift.  Especially since there is a huge gap in the back of the seats and we were thousands of miles off of the ground (that may be an exaggeration, but still). I was so scared of losing my purse; ever since my wedding ring has gone missing (I lost it), I have developed a fear of losing things: no joke.

So I wore my purse like this:

On the fourth of July we celebrated my brother's birthday with my family in Alpine and then went to the Real game with family; needless to say, it was a blast!

Our Browning family cabin trip (first time with everyone!) took place before all of what you have just read and heard--silly computer.

Here's the family! I love Lucy looking at Ian :) 

I love going to the cabin; it is so serene, and in June there are golden wildflowers everywhere. Literal fields of gold. 

I cannot get enough of this little girl: my one and only niece! 

All of the family!

 

All of the events you have read about have taken place in the matter of three weeks, but we've had so much fun visiting with family, traveling, and enjoying summer!

A Perfect Short Trip

This year has been good. It really has, but I also have hardly seen my husband because he is so involved in his full-time job, his MBA classes, his calling, United Way, and Rotary. I am so glad he can balance everything out so well, even when he leaves at 7:15 AM and I don't see him again until 11 PM. However, I still keep pretty busy and those moments when I am alone have been filled with falling in love with with reading again, doing house projects, baking, and occasionally watching 19 Kids and Counting--yep, I admitted it. The Duggars have been a fun show to watch for me in twenty minute increments when I am folding laundry, painting my toenails, and going on the elliptical, etc. 

So when Ben took his first day off of the year the day before Memorial Day Weekend--let's just say, it was a much anticipated day for me. How selfish am I? I kept thinking "Finally, I get my husband to myself--score!" 

We went on a short four and a half day trip to visit my parents for a few days. It was so perfect--filled with my loving mom and dad, fun times with my sister, Mary, amazing food, much needed long talks with my mom, reconnecting with my dear grandparents, a short trip to the beach, electric bike rides, golf cart rides, a couple of days at the pool, and a final day with the two of us at Disneyland (our first time together). Here's my recap in pictures:  

I almost stepped on this--one of the scariest moments in my life!

Ben found it!

Before our electric bike ride. The first time around it scared me too much, but once were at home in a neighborhood, I really enjoyed it!

Funniest moment of the trip--my dad and Ben were loading the bikes into the back of the truck when two kind Chinese guys asked if they could take a picture with them and the bikes, so Ben had them take one with his camera. Hilarious! 

We spent many days here.

Oh and BTW, I found my dream house... here it is!

On the Madderhorn!

Thunder Mountain is my favorite ride of all time! 

They now have a marvel exhibit, and Ben met Iron Man...kind of. 

It was a magical day. I had my first pineapple dole whip, and now I know why everyone talks about them. We rode many rides, felt the fun atmosphere, and had sourdough bread by California Screamin'. It was practically perfect...other than the scorching heat...

So long, California! See you at Christmas! Hopefully, I won't go to the hospital this time :) 

A New Enemy

I used to think spiders were the enemy with their dangling legs, sneaky ways, and mean eyes. Actually, I don't think I have seen their eyes, but they seem mean--I mean, look at them. But no. I was wrong. They are an enemy, but I found out the real enemy today, and I was alone with it for seven hours.

It started as a typical sunny spring-like day. I was cleaning out our fridge, anticipating the arrival of our new one (yay for new fridges!) when I heard it. The chirping. Not the chirping of birds but of something far more unpleasant. I at first thought it was part of the Rascal Flatts song I was listening to. After all, crickets in the background of a country song seemed fitting, but the song ended and it continued...loudly. So loudly that I could hear it from every part of the house. I then went in pursuit of the creature. And thought it came from the fireplace. Brilliant. I would turn the fire on and burn it alive. But then a part of me felt guilty. Burning things alive only happened in the witch hunt and other hypocritical acts throughout history. I could not cower so low.

But having to come face to face with the ugliness was more than I could bear. I wanted to forget that it was there, but the chirpping became relentlessly louder.

I had to do it. I knew if I came face to face with this cricket that I would hide from it all day. So I turned on the fire--heartless, I know. And it continued to chirp. I either had a fire resistant cricket villain on my hands, or it was lurking somewhere unseen.

I tried to continue on with my day, un-distracted. The fridge delivery guys came, and one of the first things they asked was, "Is there a cricket in your house?"

"Why, yes, yes there is." I responded, hoping they would volunteer to hunt it.

They responded "now that is funny." And I was left with the misery of knowing I would be with it, alone, once more.

Now if you are thinking that crickets are friendly, the media has blinded you to the ugly truth. The cute cricket in Mulan is a lie:

As is Jiminy Cricket...the media knows how to deceive us.

All I know is I don't want this...

having any say in my conscience. And how does Jiminy even resemble a real cricket at all?

Back to the story...I tried to ignore the cricket as I worked, and around 3PM, the chirping gradually stopped. I thought, maybe it's right behind me, waiting to jump on me. (Anything that looks like the above and can jump, to boot, is far more terrifying).

Finally, the Guardian of the Home from Vicious Enemies (GHVE), Ben, came home. I felt much more at peace, knowing he would protect me. I then went to our guest bathroom and lo and behold this huge cricket was staring right at me--I screamed and fled. Apparently, it had died a tragic death before I saw it in person. I am just so glad that it wasn't alive when I found it and that I wasn't alone, or else I would have cried.

The moral of this story is beware of crickets. No matter what the media tells you. And they jump.

Cleaning Psychology

This is an absurd post, let me forewarn you. Instead of actually cleaning, I decided to write about cleaning because it sounded like loads more fun, and it gave me a reason to procrastinate.

Here is the order of things I most like to clean to the things I dislike to clean, just because.

1. Toilets. Yes, I like to clean toilets. Not disgusting public restroom toilets; yes, there was a year of my life where that was part of my job. But residential toilets, I like cleaning those because it seriously makes the bathroom feel cleaner and more sanitary. You can see and feel immediate results. My bathroom just feels better the minute after I clean that toilet. And it takes approximately four and a half minutes.
2. Dishes....when there aren't fifty dishes. I love the bubbly soap smells and the satisfaction of seeing my dishes all clean. Plus, it's perfect time to listen to music, sing, or just think. There's hardly anything that feels more productive for me. And I am the crazy that handwashes practically everything besides platewear, silverwear, bowls, and glasses. But I love it. It makes me happy. However, I always get wet when I do the dishes. I don't even know how it happens, but it does.
3. Wiping the counter. A freshly wiped counter makes the world go round. Or maybe just my world.
4. Cleaning the kitchen sink is far superior than cleaning bathroom sinks. I can handle cleaning food residue but not people's spit residue. They are different. And the kitchen sink sparkles when clean, maybe it's the stainless steel effect. 
5. Cleaning out the fridge=scary. You never know what you might find. And half of the time you feel guilty because you realize something expired that you really wanted to use. So if I am already feeling bad about myself, I don't clean the fridge because I don't want any more guilt trips for the day. Kidding. But really. Cleaning the fridge is something I avoid more than I should. But once I finally do it, the satisfaction that comes is probably higher than any other cleaning process. 
6. I actually don't mind dusting. It just seems like there are so many other things that need to be done that dusting is neglected until last. I do love that citrusy-spray stuff for wood. People don't come in and say "Wow, you dusted really well here." They only notice dusting when you don't do it. So the satisfaction score on dusting is pretty low for me. 
7. Sweeping is better than mopping, but I don't love either.
8. Vacuuming is the worst chore ever. for me. The straight lines, going back and forth, and loud scary noises is my absolute least favorite. And the satisfaction score is way low. 

Isn't it funny how personal cleaning can be? We all have our favorite and not so favorite chores, and I think it shows part of our personality. For instance, I like getting things off the check-list, but I like doing the things that are fast and don't have to be absolutely perfect. It's a good thing I married Ben. He enjoys vacuuming...

A Lack of Blogging & a Birthday

 I haven't felt much like blogging in 2014, and frankly, I am not sure why. Hence, the lack of posts lately. But here are some guesses:

• Life has been busier than ever. 
• With Ben in class and with his busy homework load, we have done less out-of-the-ordinary things. And as much as people would love hearing about our occasional break of watching The Andy Griffith Show, I feel like there's less to write about in terms of the extraordinary.
• I have had many blog posts I've almost written, but I second guess myself because they seem too personal or too boring.  
• My old friend and roommate, Charlotte, who writes an amazing blog here, and I used to have discussions about output modes vs. input modes. Some days I feel like interacting, socializing, creating and making things, whether it be food, a blog post, singing a song--those are output days. Then, there are the days where I feel much more content staying home, reflecting and quietly reading and watching a BBC classic--those are input days. And I have been in input mode more often than not the last few months. I love both outputing and inputing for several reasons, but, for now I'm on "input." If that made any sense to you...

But now...I do have something fun to write about (for once!) Ben turned thirty this Easter Sunday! It was so fun celebrating with him and family! We keep joking on how he has entered this new decade and, before long, the next decade celebration will be 40! For this big birthday, I invited both of our families over to celebrate Easter and Ben's birthday simultaneously. It was so fun to have everyone over!

Death by Chocolate Trifle

 The setup--can I just say, I love hosting! 

For the first time ever, I "made" Ben something! I put together a tie felt blanket with Ben's mom's help. He even made a fake "tie" out of the extra material :) 

Our first pictures together with Ben as a 30 year old...

It was so wonderful to have everyone over! 

Sam and Nat have some serious parenting multi-tasking skills!

It was so fun to have Kim, Steve, and Everett out from Vermont for a few days. Everett got to meet "the cow," which I will post about later...

It was a wonderful day :)