Spring Fever...

Totally have a case of spring fever… unfortunately along with wanting to be outside in sandals, enjoying the sunny warm weather (yeah, that's right... its up to about 50 degrees! Haha!) – I also actually have a fever! Haha! Oh well, gave me a chance to sleep-in and wear PJs all day! :) And I had an excuse to do absolutely nothing productive… I very rarely do that, so it was actually kind of a nice break... especially since I seem to be recovering quickly! (Due in no small part to drinking juice from my custom made Trevor mug, I am sure!)

I am back at work today and feeling much better… we have too many things going on this weekend for me to be sick! Hopefully Troy will get better quickly as well!!

Anyway… The crew from Idaho is coming down and we are very excited to see them! We also have an awesome dance show on Saturday night – for the first time ever, 3 of the professional dance companies here in salt lake are performing together in one show! It will be very fun – a great mixture of ballet, modern dance, and even some contemporary ballet. Many of the numbers being performed this weekend were choreographed by the dancers themselves, so it should be extra fun!

I also need to go on a quest this weekend to find old luggage for the décor for the fund-raiser at the end of them month… wish me luck as I hit a variety of DI and thrift stores!

P.S. Not that John Paulson (an old buddy from HS) reads this, but since he's the only Leap Year baby I know... Happy Birthday to "Johnny Clark"!! :)

Askie is gone. :( Hopefully he will come to stay again soon!

Askie left this evening… it made me very, very sad. The house is just too quiet and lonely after he leaves.

One bright spot in it though is that I know how much Askie loves being with Russ, and today Aubrey told me a story that also let me know how much Askie loves being with Brooklynn… so, it made it worth my sadness to see him go back to their house. I knew that Brooklynn loved Askie because she cried when he left with Troy and I the other day. Poor sad little cute girl. :( It was so sweet, and she had just been showing me her dog imitation.. so cute!

Anyway… today I found out how much Askie loves her too and it made me smile. He was so very excited to see her today - it was so cute! Then Aubrey told me that the other day she walked into the living room and Brooklynn was sitting next to Askie with one of her books between Askie’s paws and she was showing him the pictures and talking to him. He just laid there listening and letting her show him the book. It sounds so precious and I am so sad that she didn’t have her camera handy… it would have been the cutest photo!

I miss Askie everyday, but it helps to know how loved he is and how much he loves them all. I know he loves me too, and it was so great to have him with me for a few days… I miss him so much already!

Oh yeah…. And here he is with the “unbreakable” toy octopus…

Yeah, right! Lasted about 2 minutes flat! Haha! To be fair... he was only able to rip the stuffing out of the center.. the squeakers in the octopus legs still work and we played with it for days.

And the cute Hedgehog that only lasted about 30 seconds but he had fun…

And its going to sound silly to everyone, but Askie was VERY happy with the new stairs! That tile was so hard for him to walk on that he hated going up and down the stairs… during this visit however, he would go upstairs and lounge on his quilt at the foot of my bed, while I was gone (he never used to do that)… I think it’s a pretty good use for my old comforter. :)

Silly List...

OK.. Paulette tagged me so, here goes…

What time is it? 9:13 pm

What are you most afraid of? Losing someone I love

What is the most recent movie that you have seen on bootleg? I honestly don’t think that I have ever seen a bootleg movie. Could be wrong…

Place of birth? Los Angeles
Favorite food? At the moment, garlic snap peas and fontina cheese with roasted garlic crackers

What's your natural hair color? Some shade of brown

Ever been a Neat Freak? Me? Nah….. ok, yeah…. Totally!
Ever been skinny dipping? Yes
Ever love someone so much it made you cry? Are you kidding? Almost everyday… haha! A few examples… I cried the first time Troy told me he loved me because I loved him so much too. Today I cried because I had to let Askie go and it broke my heart, but I know he loves being with Russ.

Been in a car accident? Yea, but nothing too serious… just a little extended back pain.

Croutons or bacon bits? Both… as long as its real bacon, not that fake stuff
Favorite day of the week? Saturday

Favorite restaurant? I think Bambara at the moment… we went there recently and the service was so amazing I could go there everyday!

Favorite Flower? Calla Lilies…. In every color under the sun!

Favorite sport to watch? I enjoy watching any sport where I know the people participating… football when Troy’s nephew plays, Tae kwon Do when its friends competing, etc. etc.

Favorite drink? Coke
Favorite ice cream? Dreyers’ Chocolate… but strawberry gelato is right up there!

Warner Brothers/Disney? Both!
Ever been on a ship? Yes
What color is your bedroom carpet? Brown shades, but the walls are green.
How many times did you fail your driver’s test? I am embarrassed to say that I failed the first time… I technically ran a stop sign. Haha!
Before this one, from whom did you get your last e-mail? I got this a few days ago, so I have no idea but I would imagine it was something work related. Haha!
What do you do when you are bored? You mean besides updating my blog with silly lists?? Haha!

Bedtime? I always say my bedtime is 10, but what that really means is I try to start getting ready for bed at 10ish…. Then I do the dishes, fold laundry, wash my face, read scriptures with Troy and eventually get to bed sometime between 11 and 12. But if it was up to me, I’d stay up much later and then SLEEP IN!

Favorite TV shows? I am totally into Cashmere Mafia, October Road and One Tree Hill, and a few others. :)

Last person you went to dinner with? Troy

Park or Zoo? Depends who I am with… if it’s the dogs – the park! If its nieces and nephews – the zoo!

What are your favorite colors? Lately I am loving orange, brown and turquoise… not all at the same time.

How many tattoos do you have? Two
How many pets do you have? Three… all four legged and very hairy!

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Chicken, I think… depends on the day.

What do you want to do before you die? Be sealed to the man that I love in the temple.

Have you ever been to Hawaii? Yes, many times… its one of my favorite places to visit.

Have you been to countries outside the U.S.? Yes- Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Austria, Scotland, England, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Mexico and Canada.

How many people are you sending this e-mail? None, it’s going on my blog.
Time this survey ended? 10:00

New photos!

It has been so fun to have Askie the last few days! We even took advantage of the time by using it to get some new family photos. One of my girl friends is a photographer (http://www.lambournephotography.blogspot.com/) and needed to expand her portfolio so she has been offering free sittings. So Askie, Troy and I bundled up and went to the park on Saturday morning in the rain and snow for some photos… Haha! It wasn’t the best weather for a photo shoot but the pictures turned out adorable anyway. :) Here are a few favorites…

The rest of the weekend was filled with a night at the symphony for Peer Gynt, the inaugural concert of the Salty Cricket Composers Collective and lots of work on the RWDC fund raiser coming up in March. Peer Gynt was very cool, by the way! It’s a composition by Grieg that is then paired with a fairytale of sorts (I am not sure who wrote it). So while the symphony is playing, there is a narrator telling the story, some featured artists singing other parts, and then the Utah Symphony Choir singing as well. It was very fun!

And a few more photos...

my puppy is coming today!! :) :)

Askie arrives tonight and I am very excited to see him! (Yeah, I know he doesn't look like this photo anymore, but its still my favorite and I will probably always see him this way in my mind) I miss him every day and I always love it when he comes to stay for a few days! And I think that he will be very happy to see the newly carpeted stairs! He hated that tile and really had trouble getting up and down the stairs on it. Hopefully not anymore! And I still have about 3 feet of snow in my backyard, so I think he will be very excited to play and dig in it. More fresh snow arriving on Friday for him to play in… fun, fun!!

Anyway, we went to the most amazing dance show last night! Complexions Contemporary Ballet Company was in town performing in Park City, and they were great! The athleticism was unbelievable and their show was just a pleasure to watch. The closing piece was a fun, 60’s, hippy, flower child piece… mom, you would have been so proud. They were in ty-dye and everything! Haha!

It was funny to hear Troy’s comments about the dancing now that he has been trying yoga… he has a whole new perspective on how hard it is to stand still with your leg out, up in the air or even bent above your head. Haha! He was very impressed with them!

Anyway… if they come to your city, we highly recommend you go see them perform!

Ok… off to fusion class and then home to meet Russ for the puppy hand off! Humm…. Just remembered that one of my home teachers is afraid of dogs… maybe I better reschedule their visit to next week. Haha! As if Askie would ever even hurt a fly!

Gotta love ballet dancers in drag! Haha!

Cinderella was great! We just loved it! As we have gotten to know a few of the dancers more, each show just becomes more entertaining to watch. The new artistic director changed a few things up from the last production of Cinderella that I saw, but all the changes were excellent. :) Next month we have Cinderella, the Opera, and we are very much looking forward to that as well!

Before the ballet we had dinner at Bambara – excellent food and phenomenal service! We even decided to go back after the ballet for dessert… we loved it and may make this a new tradition. :) We chatted with our server for a while too and found out that she is a composer, so next weekend we are going to try to introduce her to the new non-profit composer’s collective that some friends of ours started.

We also went to the Symphony on Saturday – Greig’s Piano Concerto, which also featured a Bartok piece that was wonderful! I think due to it being Valentine’s weekend, the place was packed! It was great to see, but also made it a bit warm in there… not good since we had been up so late the night before! Haha! Despite all that, we both thoroughly enjoyed all the pieces and the conductor was a riot to watch! It was a guest conductor, from Germany, I think and he was very enthusiastic!

This week will be a little crazy… we have a dance show in Park City tomorrow, Askie arrives on Wednesday (Yeah!!!), I have a planning meeting for the fundraiser on Thursday, symphony on Friday, and then a birthday party and the Salty Cricket Composers concert on Saturday…… I am tired already! I better get to bed early tonight!!

Plus we are hoping to find time to go see Menopause – the musical! It’s been getting great reviews and they are donating to the MS Society for every ticket purchase – you all know what a sucker I am for stuff like that! Haha!

Hooray for White Chocolate Covered Strawberries!

Many of you know about my affinity for white chocolate covered strawberries… and if don’t… well, they are just heavenly!! Unbeknownst to me, apparently Troy has been scouring the Salt Lake Valley every holiday for 2 years trying to find me white chocolate covered strawberries, and has never found a place that carried them – until yesterday! His Mom suggested he try a place that was, funny enough, about 2 blocks away and viola! They had, not only strawberries, but raspberries, grapes, boysenberries, etc. And all in yummy white chocolate! Yeah! Rebecca’s Chocolates is a fabulous place!! And Troy is just the sweetest to work so hard to find them for me! He rocks! And he even had them customize the packaging for me so that he didn’t have to bring them to me on a silly heart shaped plate… haha! He knows me so well— it makes me smile!


Don't they look yummy??? I had already eaten a few at this point.... yumm!!!

Our tradition for Valentine’s Day is to have a dinner at home on that night, and to go out on the following weekend when every place isn’t so crowded and insane. Last year it was Cafe Molise and the Symphony. Tonight it is the Ballet – Cinderella to be more specific. We are both very excited for the show! I saw Cinderella several years ago when Ballet West performed it, and I just loved it! The wicked step-sisters were guys in drag and it was just hilarious! So tonight we are headed off to Bambara for dinner and then across the street to the Ballet – can’t wait!

So anyway… last night we stuck with tradition and I made a yummy (if I do say so myself... haha!) teriyaki chicken dish with a variety of steamed veggies and rice (Thanks Mom for introducing me to that yummy teriyaki sauce you use! It’s the best!). I even got a little adventurous and tried making garlic snap peas… thankfully they turned out delicious! Troy said that my dinner was far better than the rice bowls we get a Rhumbi, and given that it’s one of our favorite places to eat – that is quite the compliment! Haha!

We decided after dinner to try something new and went to a Couples Yoga Workshop. It was very fun! They taught us some new partner yoga poses and some cool partner assisted stretches. It was our first time taking a class in the yoga studio at our gym and we may just be addicted now! While we love the fusion classes (Fusion is a mixture of Tai Chi, Yoga, Pilates and Meditation) they do out in the group fitness studio, the yoga studio is heated so your muscles stay warm and it has candles, blankets, bamboo floors… It’s very cool! Oh – and Troy even won a new yoga mat in a drawing, which we were very excited about! He’s been needing a mat and this just worked out perfect!

Anyway… we had a lovely Valentines Date and even took some silly photos… yes, thats me getting warmed up for yoga and posing with my yoga mat (a gift from Mom and Dad from a few years back… its still in great shape and I love it! Thanks!). Haha!

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day to all my little loves.... Elliott, Madde, Trevor, Luke, Hunter, Ava, Ameya, Kenyon, Nate & Collin! And, of course — Avery, Ema, Sara, Hannah, Daniel, Miles, Matthew, Joe, Cameron, TJ & Madison! And Ashliegh & Madi too! Last but certainly not least - Askie, Maika & Aleusha! (Wow... I REALLY hope that I didn't forget to list any of the little ones! Eeek!)


And most of all to my sweetest love! I love you - with all my heart! :) XOXOXOX
And of course, it goes without saying.... Happy Valentines to the best Mom and Dad in the world too! And to all my siblings, in-laws, and honoraries— love you too! :)

Hello all! Its been a few days and I just thought I'd pop-in to say hello! :) We had a great weekend with lots of time to relax and play! :) We watched movies, went to Yoga and TaeKwonDo, went out to eat and just hung out... it was perfect! Oh yeah... and I finally got all the Christmas stuff put away! Haha! Just in time for Valentines Day!

Ok... I must get back to work, but here is a poem that I love. I think it was written by Maya Angelou. I just love it... makes me think of the many things I have accomplished, and reminds me of the things that I need to work on.

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...
enough money within her control to move out and rent a place of her own, even if she never wants to or needs to...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
something perfect to wear if the employer, or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..
a youth she's content to leave behind....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to retelling it in her old age....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .....
a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
one friend who always makes her laugh... and one who lets her cry...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems, and a recipe for a meal, that will make her guests feel honored...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a feeling of control over her destiny...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to fall in love without losing herself..

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to quit a job, break up with a lover, and confront a friend without ruining the friendship...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
when to try harder... and WHEN TO WALK AWAY...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that she can't change the length of her calves, the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents.

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that her childhood may not have been perfect...but its over...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
what she would and wouldn't do for love or more...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to live alone... even if she doesn't like it...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW..
whom she can trust, whom she can't, and why she shouldn't take it personally...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
where to go... be it to her best friend's kitchen table... or a charming inn in the woods... when her soul needs soothing...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
what she can and can't accomplish in a day... a month... and a year...

Aww....

Avery sent me a picture message yesterday... look how cute! :) Not to mention pretty savvy for a 2 yr old! haha!

The weather outside is frightful!

That is a major understatement actually! Haha! Luckily the snow looks pretty when you are all warm and inside the house! But, we had a very fun weekend none-the-less!

Thanks to all who wore red on Friday! I had a girlfriend that wore red lipstick all day (she works for Clinique)… she got to tell lots of people about “wear red day” and she even sold lots of red lipstick too! And of course, there was a cute little older lady at the symphony who Troy overheard saying something about keeping her coat (red coat) on to stay warm… Troy told her that she should keep it on, and she can just tell everyone that she was wearing red for heart disease. She was happy to hear about it and left her coat on proudly!

And here I am sporting my red t-shirt, scarf and earrings…. It’s a terrible picture, but oh well! What do you expect on a moving train and a cell phone camera? Haha!

We had a wonderful time! The concert was great, and the lecture before was a wonderful addition to our evening. The violin soloist (Bobby… can’t think of his last name at the moment. Haha!) spoke a little about himself and the piece he was playing. It was fun to see his personality a little, and it really added to the experience of the concert. After the symphony we even went back stage as well, and met the violinist, as well as the conductor (Keith Lockhart). And I just want to add how fun it was to see so many red tops, dresses, skirts, coats, etc in the audience! It was so great!!

Here we are on our way to the Symphony (riding TRAX).

Saturday we went to Ririe-Woodbury’s Crystal and The Sphere, and the Studio-D after-party at Mikado. The show was very fun, and very entertaining! And we even got a few of our friends that don’t normally come to modern dance events to come and check it out. They all seemed to enjoy it very much! Since I am on the Board for RWDC, and Troy and I both are involved with Studio-D, we had to “work” a little more than usual at these things… schmoozing, hosting, etc. But – we still had a wonderful time!

Between all that, we shoveled a LOT of snow, and then shoveled some more! Haha! (OK… Troy shoveled a lot of snow, and I shoveled a little… thanks for all the hard work, baby!) But between the snow storms we had a fun little Superbowl party at Hickman House. I spent most of the game playing and reading with Avery, working on some SKIDS Foundation stuff, and helping someone set up a new budget… But I got to see plenty of funny commercials and had a great time! Troy loved the game…. Go NY Giants! :)

Our Story...

How long have you been together? We met 2 years ago today. :) Some days it seems like 10 years, others it seems like 10 days….. but it always seems like the most wonderful thing that has happened in my life.
How long did you date? We still are. :) And hopefully always will continue to date, even after we are married.

How old is he? 34… it’s my favorite time of year right now—when he is only 1 year younger than me.
Who eats more? Hopefully he does since he is literally twice my size! We share food a lot so it ends up being about half and half when we go out.
Who said "I love you" first? He did…. But I almost did. Just 2 days before he had surprised me by showing up at to a camping trip that I was on, and he really doesn’t like camping so it meant so very much to me. I was so happy to see him there, that I almost told him I loved him, but I held it in and just couldn’t stop smiling for the rest of the day! He said that the look on my face when I saw him made the long drive and the camping all worth while.
Who is taller? Me! Hahaa….. yeah, that would be Troy.
Who sings better? Considering that he used to perform (singing, acting, playing guitar), I am going to go with him…. Oh yeah, that and the fact that I don’t really have a very good voice.
Who is smarter? Depends on the topic, I think. But I think he is.
Who does the laundry? We each do our own. But once we live in the same house, I have already told him that I am taking over. I think I will try to keep him doing the ironing though. He likes everything ironed, and frankly, I hate ironing.
Who does the dishes? Usually me, but he always offers to help and sometimes I let him. I generally like to just leave the dishes until after he leaves, that way I can spend all that time with him. :)
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I sleep in the middle!
Who pays the bills? I am the money manager.
Who mows the lawn? The gardener that the HOA hired. :)
Who cooks dinner? I do, but he always offers to help when I am cooking.
Who is more stubborn? Both are equally stubborn I think… just depends on the topic
Who kissed who first? He did, but I made it very easy for him. :) Haha!
Who asked who out? I think I did, technically. I had just made cookies, and I invited him over to come have some. Then he asked me out to dinner the next day.
Who proposed? Troy will… we are very traditional that way… I teased him once that I was going to do it, but I really don’t want to.
Who is more sensitive? Probably me as a whole, but he has a very sensitive side that would surprise those that don’t know him well.
Who has more friends? Hum… that’s a hard one… in terms of close friends, I would guess me, but I am not entirely certain. He also has tons of casual friends and acquaintances that he chats with.
Who has more siblings? Same on both sides – two boys and three girls in each family.
Who are you tagging? Paulette and Michelle

Go Red!

So here I am in my red shirt, with my red earrings…. All set for “Wear Red Day”! I hope that you are all in red too! )

Here is one more way that you can help make a difference today… and it will only take about 20 seconds. If you go to this site and vote for your favorite dress, Campbell's will donate $1 to research for every click. http://www.goredwithcampbells.com/ Get going!

Last night in the spirit of getting our hearts in better shape, Troy and I had our “fitness evaluations” with a trainer at the gym… talk about depressing! Haha! Our "body ages" are both older than they should be (but at least we were the same body age as each other.. haha!), so we both have a lot of work to do… but we will get there! And hopefully sooner, rather than later!

As for the upcoming weekend… Troy and I are headed to the symphony tonight for Beethoven’s Seventh. We are going to the Pre-symphony lecture tonight also so that we can hear some of the background and history behind the piece. I am very excited for this. We are also sitting up in the 1^st tier, which is where we would like to buy tickets next season… the only bad part is that once we sit up there, we may not want to go back to the floor for the rest of the season. Haha!

Tomorrow night we have “The Crystal and The Sphere” performed by Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, and a Studio-D After-party at Mikado. We are very much looking forward to the night and have heard wonderful reviews of this show. It’s been reviewed as “If Dr Seuss did dance, this is what it would look like.” Should be entertaining!