Early start to the weekend...

OK – can I just tell you how very cool this site is - http://www.nowplayingutah.com/. It seriously rocks! It’s such an awesome tool for finding out what’s going on in Salt Lake….. use it!

Anyway, last night we got an early start to our weekend with our attendance at Ballet West’s Innovations – what a phenomenal show! Unfortunately I am paying for it today because we were out WAY too late for a school night, but it was such a fun evening!

About the show - Three of the pieces were choreographed by dancers from Ballet West, and these numbers were all spectacular. It also seemed that the dancers really enjoyed performing the numbers, which made it that much more moving for the audience. The other two pieces were also very good and we enjoyed them very much. The whole show was more of the contemporary ballet style than Ballet West has done in the past, and it was welcome change for this show. It really was wonderful!


Saturday we have the last Symphony of the season, and while we are very sad for the season to end.. we are very much looking forward to the show!


Have a great weekend everyone!!

Slacker...

Sorry I have been such a BLOG slacker the last week or so! Things have just been a little nuts with Troy back in school and me editing the 2^nd edition of Money For Life (my boss’s book) and trying to make time to work on the brochure/proposal for the Children’s Foundation (SKIDS). But…. It’s still no excuse! So… I will just update and move forward with more timely blogging. :)

Memorial weekend was a fairly mellow weekend for us… school, work, etc took up most of our time it seems but we still found time for renting some movies and enjoy the rain. On Memorial Day we went to visit Troy’s Father’s grave and take him some flowers. We also took some flowers to Grandpa Hansen and Colleen’s Grandmother while we were there too. Then we headed across the valley to visit Colleen’s Mom’s grave and to stop in and leave some flowers for Grandma and Grandpa Streiff too. They have added some pretty new garden areas at the graveyard, which we were very happy to see. Next we stopped over to leave some flowers for Grandma and Grandpa Anderson… As you can see from the photos, a few other family members stopped in to visit the graves as well. It was a fun trip down memory lane and despite the pouring rain, we had a lovely day.

On Thursday night Troy and I had the opportunity to hangout with Avery for the evening while her parents were at the new Indiana Jones movie… they said it was great! Troy and I will have to go see it soon! We worked on my car which wasn’t especially fun for Troy who was doing all the work but Avery and I raced up and down the driveway, took turns pretending to drive the car and trying on all the exciting bracelets that reside on the gear shift knob of my car. Haha! After the headlights were all fixed, we loaded up and went for a drive… which Avery thought was very cool, despite the fact that it was only to Wendy’s and back. Haha! It’s not very often that Avery gets to ride in Jen’s car so it was quite the thrill apparently. The evening took a pretty boring turn for Avery after that as she was forced to watch a movie with us that was not at all her speed. Oh well, she seemed to enjoy climbing all over the couch and all over me…. Haha!

Saturday was the Symphony…. Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5. There was also a guest conductor who was very entertaining to watch… at least for me. Troy was less than enthusiastic about his style, but I thought he was hilarious. He would get very into the music in certain areas and start doing these dancing moves with his shoulders, or making these “jazz hands” type moves at the musicians. Haha! Anyway… I loved the piano concerto and the Prokofiev piece was excellent as well. I was not familiar with Prokofiev before that night but the piece had a dark, Russian kind of feel and it was very cool. It was Troy’s favorite piece of the evening.

Let’s see…. What other things do I need to catch up on? Ahhh.. yes, the latest Dog rescue. I am not sure what it is about Troy and I finding stray dogs in every neighborhood we go to!?! But, none-the-less, it seems to happen quite often. A little while back we were up in my old haunting grounds of Holladay and the surrounding area… we came across Newman (pictured below with Troy) roaming a rather busy street and getting increasing closer to Highland Drive (which many of you know is a very busy street). After several attempts to get Newman to trust Troy enough to let him grab his collar (attempts which included bribery with whatever snacks we had in the car… namely yogurt raisins and Doritos, neither of which are usually very good dog snacks) we were able to call Newman’s Dad. Unfortunately he was in Park City for the day but asked us if we would do him the huge favor of taking Newman to his house and putting him in the garage. So…. off we went. Newman was home safe and we were on our way. :)

This week we have the last Ballet of the season – Innovations, as well as the last Symphony of the season. We are looking very forward to the Deer Valley Music Festival and our picnics with the Symphony up in the mountains, under the stars!

Yeah... it's the weekend! :)

I love weekends! Not that I don't love my job, because you all know that I sincerely do, but I love the weekends more! It's time to relax, time to play, and more often than not, time to catch up on all the things I just can't seem to get done during the week.

We've got lots to do this weekend (especially with the added school work for Troy) but I am sure we will manage to have lots of fun too! Tonight we are headed out to an Art Gallery and then to sushi with some friends. Yes, I said sushi... but for those thinking that they just saw a pig fly past.. don't worry, this sushi place has very yummy teriyaki chicken! :) Tomorrow Aleusha and Maika are coming over, and we will play with all the Idaho visitors and then Troy and I are heading up to Park City for the afternoon... Can't wait! Other than that, we get to relax, goof-off, and do Troy's homework! You are all jealous, I know! Haha!

And just to keep with the "random" theme from yesterday.... a photo that recently surfaced of Troy and I at my company Holiday Party.... Troy's hair was so long! It's short now... I'll have to get a new photo to show it off. :) oh wait... there was a photo from the Race for the Cure. Haha!

yeah right....

The Coke Zero can clearly states that it has "real coca cola taste but with zero calories".... it does not!!! I really wish it did, but trust me it does not. I am trying to force myself to like it, yet again - but its just no use. :(

Anyway..... I think today is just a day for random posts, so I hope you enjoy this spanish love song that Troy dedicated to me....


That just cracks me up!! Haha! (And I really hope I am not infringing on any copyright laws by posting this... hahaha!)

adventurous monday....

Oh boy... what an evening I had yesterday! It was between 6 and 6:30, and I was driving to a Board Meeting and BOOM! FLAT TIRE! Right on the 215 freeway... luckily I was able to pull over very easily and get out of the way of traffic. And thankfully the shoulder is nice and wide at this area of the freeway!

So... faced with the dilemma of having Troy in first night of his night class (the class had just started 20 minutes before and goes until 9pm)... I sent him a text to let him know what was going on, but started calling everyone else I could think of to come help me. I was only 2 blocks from my buddy Mark's house... but of course, it being only 6:30pm, he was still at work downtown. So I tried Darren who I knew was probably on his way to the gym... left him a voice mail. Then I called the Board to tell them that I would be late, but that I would get there as soon as I could.

So... with no prospects for help just yet, I remembered that Troy had been given a AAA membership for Christmas... perhaps I could use that? So I asked Troy if he had his card, which of course he didn't... and reassured him that he should stay in class instead of coming to get me. He didn't seem to keen on the idea but reluctantly agreed. So, I tried to call Colleen to see if she could look for the AAA card, but then realized that after the phone had rung several times that she was on a TRAX train on her way to the Opera with Tina. Haha. So..... back to Darren. Tried again and Viola! He and Avery were on their way to rescue me! Thank you, Darren!!!!

Darren and Avery arrived a little while later and we got to work on the tire... unfortunately my jack has a very specific place on the undercarriage where it is supposed to go, and we could not seem to locate that spot.... perhaps it was the distraction of the numerous cars racing past us? Anyway... we finally settled on a spot we thought may be it and he worked away while I went to check on Avery who was sitting so patiently in her car seat. We had a lovely chat while we counted the car whizzing past, played with her purse and talked on her cell phone.

I went to check on Darren a little bit later, just in time to see my car roll off the jack and just about give us both a heart attack. So.... we tried his jack...... it worked well enough to get the tire off, but when we got the car high enough to get the spare tire on.... off the jack it rolled. Luckily my tire was under the car, holding it up off the ground... Haha!! And before anyone asks.... Yes, the parking brake was on and yes, the car was in park. Unfortunately the shoulder was just slanted enough to be causing major difficulties.

What do to next??? By this time it was about 7:45 so we piled into Darren's car and raced to try to make it to an auto parts store he knew of that closed at 8pm. Figured we'd just buy a better jack. :) While we were driving I had Troy send me Tommy's number and we called to try and get the info for AAA. We got the info from Tommy and I called AAA while Darren kept driving towards the auto parts store, just in case.

AAA answered quickly and looked up Troy's account..... however, once they found out Troy wasn't with me, the story changed to, "We can't come out unless he is there. The account is in his name and he needs to be present for us to come." I laughed and said, "Well if he were here, I wouldn't actually need you to come now would I?" They didn't think that was as funny as I did. Haha! So I tried a different method... I said my brother in law is with me, can you look up his account and come out on that account? They said, sure..... right up until the operator found out that the account was in Tina's name. It then turned into the same thing... "Unless Tina is there with you, we cannot come out." So I tried another line of reasoning.... "Troy is in school and Tina is at the theater. Neither of them can be reached, nor can they come to meet me. What are my options?" Unfortunately short of buying a whole new membership on the spot, I had only one... Troy could step out of class and call to see if he could get them to allow me authorized use of his account, despite the fact that he wasn't at the car.

Meanwhile... Darren, Avery and I arrive at the auto parts store to see that they have just closed. Right then Troy calls to tell me he is on a break from class, so... I give him the number for AAA and he calls. He spends the next 20 minutes on hold, but finally got through. The guy he talked to also said that they could not come out unless Troy was there. Troy said something along the lines of, "Listen, my wife is stuck on the side of a road and I cannot get to her. I need you to go help her. I understands its policy that I am supposed to be there, but if I was there, I wouldn't need your help. Can you make an exception?" The guy finally agreed and said they'd be there in about a half hour. So... Darren drives me back to my car to drop me off to wait for the repair truck. Thank you again, Darren for all the effort!!!

While we were gone the cops stopped by and tagged my car as abandoned... unfortunately, they didn't bother to change my tire while they were there. Haha! I know it's not their job, but it would have been greatly appreciated.

So anyway... its about 8:15 or 8:30, just about dusk, and I am back at the car waiting patiently when I see a gentleman climbing down the embankment a little ways in front of my car. He came to see if I needed assistance... he asked if I was ok and what was the trouble. I explained that AAA was on their way, but I appreciated him stopping. I said that we had broken my jack trying to change my tire, but I would be fine until the repair truck got there. He said, "It's fine, I'll just go get my jack and we'll get you on your way before it gets any darker." He climbed back up to his car and came back with a heavy duty jack and got to work.

I asked how he had even seen me from where his car was. He told me that he had driven past and saw that I was alone and needed assistance so he got off the freeway and drove back to the on-ramp that was just above my car and climbed down. Talk about going out of his way to do a good deed?!?! What a sweet man!! I profusely thanked him for his assistance and he said that 5 minutes out of his day was no big deal when it came to helping a young woman who was alone on the side of the road. He said it was far more important to make sure that I was safe and could get on my way. He was very kind and I was so very thankful for his help!!

He got the flat fixed pretty quickly and headed off. I have no idea who he was, but I do want to tell him thank you for stopping to help me!! He completely went out of his way, and I appreciate it so much! And so does Troy.... he was really struggling with not leaving class to help me, but since it was the first night I just didn't think he should. Especially since its only a 6 week course... they cover a LOT each night. And besides, it all turned out OK.... just unfortunately took SEVERAL HOURS! Haha!

Anyway..... I finally made it home at about 9:15 or 9:30.... Haha! And I totally missed my Board Meeting, of course... oh well! What a crazy evening!

And today I finally have new tires! The Discount Tire in Draper gave me an awesome deal and got me in and out in about 10 minutes.... they rock! If you need new tires... please go see them!

Back to School…

Today it’s official… I am dating a college student! Haha!! Troy is officially a college student again! His classes started today at the bright and early hour of 7:30am… yuck!! While the next several months will be a little insane… I am very proud of Troy for committing to get school completed! And with his classes all mapped out and scheduled right up to graduation in December – I am sure its just going to fly right by!

And of course, the “A” parking pass makes it much easier too – THANKS DAD!!! Today Troy was able to park about 50 feet from all of his classes! Makes it much easier to get out of the there and off to work too. Gotta love that!

This past weekend we had lots of fun… we had to fit in as much play time as we could before school started today.

~We had the Race for the Cure on Saturday morning which was great, as always. There were roughly 16,000 participants here in Salt Lake and it was amazing to see so many people out supporting the cause. As usual a few times during the race, Troy and I both were very moved by the “in celebration of” signs on peoples back… seeing the little kids with signs that refer to their mothers and grandmothers are always the hardest for me. I think this year it all hit a little closer to home for me than in years past… I hope that a cure will come very soon.

~ Saturday night we went out for a yummy dinner at Bambara and headed over to the Utah Opera’s performance of Don Giovanni. Dinner was delicious, as always – we love that restaurant! And the opera was excellent. Don Giovanni was the first opera that Troy ever saw, and he saw it at the age of 8. He loved it, and has been hooked on opera ever since. This was my first time seeing Don Giovanni, and I really enjoyed it! For those that don’t know, it’s the story of Don Juan the womanizer who gets sent to hell in the end by the ghost of a man that he had killed when the man was trying to protect the honor of his daughter. The music is beautiful and the production was excellent. The opera was sung in Italian (with English super-titles on a screen above the stage) and now that my Spanish is getting a little better, I actually found myself understanding more of the Italian than I thought I would – the two languages have a lot of similarities. There was also a Vivace After-Party (and combined Cast Party), which made it an extra fun evening! A long and tiring evening after such an early start to our Saturday! haha! But a fun time!!

~ A couple weeks ago there was a huge pet adoption fair that we stopped by to play with some of the puppies and check out all the cute dogs. This past weekend we decided to do that again – so we stopped by the adoption fair they were having in the parking lot at IKEA. There weren’t very many dogs there and we were happy to hear that a few had already found new homes. We enjoyed meeting cute little Pacino and Cody and playing with them for a bit. They were such sweet little puppies! Being the dog lovers that we both are, we have a really hard time seeing the dogs in those little cages and if we could, we would take them all home! We hope that they all find loving homes soon!

~ I am also considering getting a scooter for my commute to work so we spent some time on Saturday checking out Vespa, Eco Moto, etc. Found some really cute ones that I loved, but discovered that a lot of them are too tall for me.. Haha! Apparently I am really short… Anyway, we figured out that you can have them lowered, and some of the models actually fit me pretty well. So…. perhaps my efforts to “reduce my carbon footprint” will work after all… we shall see. Do you think my Harley helmet with the flames on it will look silly with a Vespa?

~ And on to Mother’s Day… Troy had a very nice surprise planned for his Mom – speaking in church – and she loved it! Everyone else in the family knew, and we all managed to keep it a secret, right up until Troy walked up on to the stand and sat down. I didn’t see it, but apparently Colleen actually jumped with surprise when she saw this. Haha! Troy’s talk was wonderful and was an excellent tribute to his Mother. He included some great stories, and even a quote that he strongly felt his Father wanted him to include. It was an emotional time for all of us when he talked about the cancer coming back and Colleen’s strength and unwavering faith even in the face of this adversity. Her strength, testimony and faith are really an inspiration to me, and to so many others as well. ((Troy – In case I didn’t tell you enough yesterday - It was an excellent talk and I am very proud of you for doing such a great job! XOXO))

And last but not least – Happy Birthday to my favorite older brother, Craigy!! :) I hope you have a wonderful birthday!

Enough is enough!

Seriously... I just don't know if I can handle one more person I know having cancer! It's just too much... too much suffering, too much pain... just too much! I want it to go away... I want there to be a cure! I want everyone to be healthy and cancer free!

So.... I am not sure that participating in the Race for the Cure this weekend will make the difference, but I hope it helps! I hope it makes a difference in the research for the cure. I hope that it helps prevent someone from getting sick or from suffering. I hope that our contribution helps find the cure! I know every little bit helps so.... we will race and we will do what we can. For all those suffering.... please know that our hopes and prayers are with you. I hope it helps!!

http://www.active.com/donate/komenslc2008/jenandtroy

Happy Birthday Hunter!

Wow... I really need to spend some more time with Hunter... hardly any pictures of Hunter and I together!


Anyway.... Hunter - I hope you have a wonderful birthday! Love you!

The fun weekend that Elliott and I had...

OK… we also had tons of fun with Trevor, Shelly, Luke and Mandy! And especially with Mom/Grandma’s surprise of coming home early! That part was great and I think that Elliott was very excited to see her too.

After a fun dinner with Shelly, Trev, Mandy and Luke on Friday evening… Elliott arrived and we headed back to his house. He was very excited to show me all his toys and to be sleeping at home. And of course, its extra fun when you figure out that Aunt Jen has a camera built into her phone… here is Elliott’s Self-Portrait. Haha!

When we got up on Saturday we had breakfast and opened our awesome toy guns that Carly left for us…. Here is a photo that Elliott took of me with my new toy…. Fabulous, huh???

Ok… not a great picture of me but I thought I should post the one he took, since he did such an excellent job. :) And of course here is the deep concentration opening the present...

A little later Trev and Luke came over for play time! TWICE! Once before naps and again afterward… so fun! We ran really fast, checked out the fans, played with the train table, jumped on the trampoline, and we even went in the hot tub. And we had some yummy snacks of pita chips and hummus… and has you can see by the photos… it was very serious business… haha!

And Sunday morning we found out that Avery isn’t the only one that likes to try on my shoes…. Doesn’t he look so cute? :)

And of course here we also have the awesome airplane that Grandma brought home for Elli…

The airplane came to breakfast and to church. Elli was excited to see that Luke had also brought his new airplane to church. Luke was very proud showing it off to us… Very cute!

After church we had brunch at Mandy’s and watched a little Curious George… then we headed home for naps. Then Grandma came over to play with us! We jumped on the trampoline a little more… sorry, Craig and Carly – that may not be a usual Sunday activity. :) Then we opened some bubbles and chased them all around. Here are a few more photos from our bubble party….

After Bubbles we opened and played with the very cool (if I do say so myself) book that Auntie Jen brought for Elli.... it has these cool felt pieces that you can make stuff with. Thanks Troy for helping pick it out! :) Anyway, here is the space ship that Elli made...

I had such a great time in Cali, and hanging out with Elliott! I missed Troy terribly while I was gone, but it gave him a chance to work on all the stuff he needs to get ready for school… which was really good for him. I can’t believe classes start next week! Our schedule is going to be a little nuts for the next 7 or 8 months… but it will be soooo good for school to be done!

It's just too bad that all the fun is over in Cali! :) Haha! I know that there will be NO FUN activities now that I am gone..... right???

here I come!!

Can't wait to get to the OC and hang with Elli for the whole weekend! And I can't wait to see Luke, Trevor, Mandy and Shelly too! Yeah!

SNOW

Yes, that's right... I said Snow! As in... it is snowing in May!

Today I woke up to the sound of my neighbor scrapping ice and snow off their windshield... I would have laughed at the idea of it if it hadn't been 6:30 am.... haha!

But alas.... yes, it's snowing in May!

missing my friends...

These are my little friends Ashleigh and Madison (ok... they aren't so little anymore... I think Madi is actually taller than me now). I seriously can't believe how grown up they are these days... what happened to the little baby that I used to carry around everywhere? Who used to recognize my voice the second I walked in a room? Who used to carry around a stuffed puppy that looked just like Askie? :) Or prance around in her Harley Davidson fleece? Who used to refer to me as her best friend? Just like her Mom :) I miss those days... and I am sad that I wasn't around for more of that with Ashleigh. But, I am glad that Madison still enjoys telling me all about what she's doing. :) They are such wonderful girls!

I always miss Paulette a ton, and the girls too.... but lately I REALLY wish that we lived closer to each other! That we had more time to play together and just hang out... I am glad that I always know they are just a phone call away though! :)

I think I will resolve to make more time for phone calls and emails.... and hopefully a visit to Georgia in the very near future!! Humm... Troy does have some time off from school in August... Is it unbearably hot in Georgia in August?? I may need to look into that...