The End of Vacation

Sadly, Christmas vacation feels like so long ago. But even though vacation is so over, it really was a great one, and I need just one more post to fill in a little of what went on during my Utah trip. I only have pictures of a few of the things I did ... the rest of the time I was just having way too much fun to think about it.

I flew in the night of January 5. It was snowing when I got there (to add to what was already plenty of snow on the ground) and I'm pretty sure the snow didn't stop for a full 30 hours. Although it was fun to be in a winter wonderland, it got a little ridiculous! But it did keep my younger brother down in Orem another day (he lives in SLC) so it wasn't all bad.

(For you Orem people, I took this while driving past the public library on Orem Center.) In the midst of all this snow, my Dad and I, along with my grandparents, made it out to see the Cougars take on Western Oregon in basketball. Although we won by a big margin in the end, we started out the game without scoring for what seemed like the longest time, and we definitely had some ground to make up. I totally miss BYU sports so it was a great time.

Another highlight was going to my brother and sister-in-law's house in Lehi and getting to see my little niece Bella. My last trip to Utah was a year ago, and the time between 4 mos. and 16 mos. definitely involves some big changes! We brought over Cafe Rio and had a great night talking, laughing, and setting up Bella's Christmas present from my parents - a cute little table and chair set perfect for having tea parties.

Bella seemed to enjoy stepping on and off the chair bottoms so much we questioned why we were even putting the thing together ...
But she got pretty into the assembly part as well. You just had to make sure not to tell her "no" (even in the nicest voice possible) or her eyes would well with tears.

The orange chair was the first one ready to try out and seemed to be the favorite.

The green chair was fun for a while ...
But after tipping off of it, that was the end of that.

Other things I got to do while I was there included shopping, meeting up with several of my close friends (no pictures! sad!), going twice to the physical therapist, going to see Valkyrie with my parents, and going out to Sushi with my Dad (and we even got Mom to try some too). I also got to see a house in their neighborhood burn to the ground (we were kind of scared at first and then figured out that it was an old house being burned down on purpose as a training exercise).

My sister Kate was pretty busy during the week with homework (I helped her a little bit, but not much) so on Friday we had a date night. We went out on the town for a while and then came back and watched Mamma Mia and had a dance party. Who-hoo!!

On Saturday my mom, sister, and I went skiing at the Canyons. We had a GREAT day. After the first run I wasn't sure my legs were going to make it the entire day, but after a couple of runs they were used to it (it had been about 4 years). I was willing to go on some double blues but Katie had to do the blacks on her own.

It was FREEZING at the top of the mountain! Although I'm afraid it didn't feel much different than it felt like walking to school here in Maryland a week ago.

When we got home, we were treated to some of my Dad's homemade soup and we situated ourselves in front of the fire to work on our puzzle while cousins and other family members stopped by. And I got to see more of cute little Belle.

And then we had to stay up half the night working on a 1,000 piece puzzle I'd convinced my family to start earlier in the week.
We got semi-close to finishing (right!) but my mom got me to go to bed by promising that she would finish it after I left, and not just put it away. My dad was a great sport and with his skills (though previously rarely shown off) they were able to get it done! I'm so glad.

And then I was on my way back to Baltimore, just in time to start the semester (which has been kinda rough so far, by the way!). It was a fantastic trip ... although always a little bitter-sweet, because the missing each other gets a little stronger after spending time together. But I guess I am used to it by now. Thanks for the fantastic time! Can't WAIT to see you in May.

Inauguration 2009

[By the way, this post is from Joe...]

I didn't vote for Barack Obama, but I am proud to be an American and respect the democracy that we live in. Therefore, instead of talking negatively about what a train wreck is going to occur, or being critical of a huge inauguration celebration to crown a new king in the wake of an economic depression, or saying how something bad has happened to the country like I've heard others say in recent weeks, I will give my support to our new president and remain optimistic that the changes he promises will make this country stronger and help rescue it from struggles that we find ourselves in. Certainly, I am worried about what may happen in the next few years, but at this point I feel like it is my duty to support the new president. Many republicans are already so anti-Obama before he's even spent an entire day in the white house. How much different is this than all the now anti-Bush people who forgot they voted for him twice, forgot they were among the majority in supporting the war in Iraq, blame him for all of todays economic troubles, and now desire to accuse him of criminal action?

But now to the reason for this blog. Today is an historic day with an African-American becoming president of the United States. It hasn't been very many decades since African-Americans were segregated and oppressed. Most African-Americans never dreamed of this day, and living in Baltimore I've been able to see how much this means to many people. You can understand that they have great reason to celebrate. Mormons would have celebrated had Mitt Romney won the nomination, and although perhaps the nation isn't and never will be ready for a Mormon president, I am proud that Americans were ready for a black president. Even with this monumental step, racial tension is still very strong today. I sometimes question from what direction the tension comes. It seems that some don't really want improvement and continue to be play the victim, i.e. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Reverend Wright, and my new guy today Joseph Lowery. He's the guy that gave the inauguration benediction today. All four of these men are religious ministers, presumed men of God who are supposed to bring peace and love to earth. Here is portion of Joseph Lowery's prayer today:

"We ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man, and when white will embrace what is right."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfxtnvvyYp8

I know he was trying to be cute and funny, but how is this acceptable? This is a down right racist comment in a prayer on a day when America was supposed to be taking a huge step forward showing that color of skin wouldn't limit a person from becoming president. In my opinion, racism is only fueled by these words. Praying for a day when white will embrace what is right? Praying for a day when black will not be asked to get back? Since when has that happened? Yellow to be mellow? Yellow as in Asian? He just put people in five different groups based on the color of their skin. Not the best start to what is supposed to finally help put racism to rest and allow us to live as people unified in cause. God bless this nation.

Lewis Girls

I had a GREAT trip to Utah (even though I had to leave Joe behind). But on the plus side, I didn't have to share my family's attention with Joe, and my family got to have my undivided attention as well. It was fun to be there minus all the holiday craziness and just spend as many minutes together as possible. Since Kate was in back school, my minutes with her were limited. But one afternoon we got to have some sister pictures taken together (+ mom)! My mom had tried to sell a photo printer on Craig's list and an aspiring photographer offered to trade her a photo session for it, so she had the great idea to do it with me and Kate. We had a lot of fun and I'm sure we'll treasure the pictures for years to come. I am so so glad I have a fun, sweet, beautiful sister (and mother)! They are my best friends. :)

(My mom made this cute snow woman all by herself!)

Awww! Katie and her kitty (who is the same age as she is - 16 years!)

Welcome to the "Year of Years"

Yes, Joe has dubbed 2009 as the "Year of Years." There are many reasons why we think this is so which I won't bother to enumerate, but the fact that we are both finally graduating after 19 and 20 years of school is definitely one of those reasons. :) We kicked off the New Year by clanking champagne glasses and downing some sparkling water at a fantastic restaurant downtown - with Nate & Lori, of course.

The restaurant was French, so we made our reservation for 10:30 in true French style (sadly Joe wouldn't let me order snails, so I couldn't enjoy the true French experience...why do I still listen to him??). We had just finished ordering dessert when the countdown began and we got to have the traditional kiss during those few important seconds when the ball drops. No, the kiss wasn't on the cheek, but Nate & Lori were too busy smooching to document the actual thing - plus I might not post that on my blog.

Happy New Year! 2009 is going to be great!!

The Most Wonderful Month of the Year!

Happy Holidays!! It has been a busy and fantastic month. Get ready for a rather lengthy post as I try to do a quick recap of my favorite month of the year.

The first half of the month I spent mostly studying. Luckily, though, my finals were much more manageable than previous semesters, and for the first time I was able to find time for a few study breaks to do some Christmasy-type things. Our first activity was to trudge through the thickly falling snow one Saturday afternoon to find and cut down the perfect Christmas tree! The tree was for Nate and Lori, but we decided it would be lots of fun to go along for the experience. Plus, without us there, who would have taken all the pictures?? I was seriously very concerned about this - it was the tipping factor when I was trying to decide whether to stay home and study or go Christmas tree hunting.
We had a great time and were glad we went. I'm just relieved I didn't lose any fingers to the cold since that would have made typing my finals considerably more difficult.
Nate and Lori really did find the perfect tree - but they couldn't have done it without us! Plus Nate needed another guy to help chop it down and carry it off. Lori and I were there for photo-ops, not for sawing on our hands and knees with a face full of pine needles.

I was just super excited not to be studying!

The next event of the month was my 25th birthday. The past few years my birthdays haven't even caused me to blink since I'm usually taking a final that day or the day after. But this year my first final wasn't for 3 more days, and I wasn't nearly as overwhelmed as usual - so I stopped studying at 5 and took an entire evening to celebrate. Joe and I went to Pei Wei, and then went to look for a small tree of our own, which proved unsuccessful.

Then I went to Lori's to open my present and blow out my candle on the fantastic cake she made me. :) I told her I didn't want a real cake since I was trying to eat healthy during finals and she came up with this creative concoction. I am a huge Special K fan and I loved it.

I also took some time to admire my new car, since that was my birthday present (quite the present I'd say!) and opened my other wonderful presents from my parents and Nate and Lori. Since my birthday expectations have been set pretty low in recent years, it really didn't take much to make it a completely fantastic day! Except for the fact that I am getting so old ... I didn't like that part so much.

Then, by December 19th, I was done! It was an awesome feeling to know that Joe and I are both just one semester away! We had to kick it right into Christmas mode so we could get our packages sent out the next day, and then start our Christmas shopping. But we had everything all set by the night of the 23rd so we could enjoy Christmas Eve. That night we also went to see the lights at the Temple and the Reflections of Christ exhibit which we really enjoyed.

On the 24th we awoke to freezing rain and almost called off our trip to Hershey, PA, but then decided to go anyway. It was basically empty there which was great - we could tell the place is set up for long lines. We rode the "factory tour" ride twice without even getting off and had fun looking all all the different sweets which none of us really wanted to eat (well, maybe deep down we did, but ...).

The weather wasn't fantastic but we had fun anyway. Now we know what the place is all about, and we may just have to take a trip back sometime when the museum reopens. We ended the outing with lunch at the The Chocolate Bar, and it was delicious. Then we drove back home through the rain while listening to Christmas tunes on XM radio ... Joe and Lori belted out the Hallelujah chorus of Handel's Messiah, and I even joined in a little. Fun!

Later we had a cozy little Christmas Eve at Nate and Lori's. We made pizzas with dough from the Big Cheese (sooooo good) and watched the Santa Claus, and then went home to wait for Santa to come.

And come he did! Here is our little tree (borrowed from the Edmans after they left town but decorated by us) and all of our presents before we took them up to Nate and Lori's.
Basically it was the size of the tree that determined where we would hold our Christmas festivities. And here are Joe and me showing off the Christmas pajama bottoms my mom made for us! They have cute little snowmen on them if you can't tell ...
Although we really missed our families, we had a very nice, quiet little Christmas just the 4 of us.
Joe with his new bike helmet.

And some nice vice grips.

Me opening up a new hair straightener (a Chi!) - well, a box with a picture and a customer review of the straightener taped to it (very cute, Joe!). The real one was on its way.

And admiring my new coat! Joe did a fabulous job surprising me this year. :)

That afternoon we enjoyed a delicious Christmas dinner with friends at the Auston's home. Unfortunately I had a few hours where nothing seemed to go my way - the rolls took forever to rise, one pan got burned, and I felt like a Christmas wreck. You'd think the adorable Christmas apron my mom made me would have brought me better luck! ;) However with wonderful company and great food I was soon able to recover.

To finish off the day, we talked to our families via phone or iChat, and then started and almost finished a 500 piece Christmas puzzle before we could no longer keep our eyes open. Hope everyone had a very merry Christmas! We love you!

Presenting: our Christmas Present!

I know I've got some major blog catching-up to do but since I still need to get some pictures from Lori, I thought I'd do a quick post about one of our new Christmas presents! This year my parents got the 3 married couples the same main gift: a Vitamix! If you don't know what it is, well, it's basically the most amazing blender ever! It has a huge motor and can blend ice and whole foods like it's nothing. And ... if you put it on a certain speed for about 4 minutes, you come away with piping hot, creamy soup! Incredible. The blender comes with tons of recipes for smoothies, ice cream, peanut butter, hummus, soups, pudding, dips, and sauces. Fun!! Last night Joe and I tried out the blender on a beginner recipe of Chicken Potato Spinach Soup. We put whole baked potatoes in the blender with milk, chicken broth, onion, and spices, which came out super creamy, and added chopped chicken and spinach at the end so it would be more coursely chopped.

This was our beautiful, steaming hot result! It was a lot of fun - although it turned out a little too "potatoey" for my taste (I think we used the wrong kind of potatoes). Now we've got some smoothy ingredients in the freezer just waiting to be put to use. I am very excited about it since our old blender really couldn't handle the frozen peaches and I had basically given up on smoothie making altogether.

Also - like my super cute plate and bowl?? It's my birthday present from Lori (& Nate)!! I love it.

Our Thanksgiving Getaway

We are still recovering from a completely fantastic Thanksgiving weekend! We spent 3 days in a cozy cabin in the middle of a winter wonderland with great friends, plenty of delicious food, and non-stop laughs and entertainment. The cabin is in Western Maryland near Deep Creek Lake and is basically brand-new! It was awesome. I am so glad Hannah found the cabin and organized it all ... this was one of the few holiday weekends since we've been in Md. that I haven't spent studying, and I'm grateful we had the chance to spend it with great friends who will be moving away soon.

10 people cooking Thanksgiving dinner in one small kitchen was a little crazy but somehow everything came together wonderfully. Jeremy did a great job on the turkey and the rest of us pitched in with the appetizers, mashed potatoes, yams, salads, rolls, and stuffing (Joe's specialty). Oh, and plenty of pies, of course! I think key lime may have been the hit.

Joe always is a great cook on Thanksgiving and this year was no exception!

We took a nice little walk in the snow which led to trouble when I started threatening Joe with a snowball.
But how could I not forgive a guy who belongs on the cover of GQ? So dang cute!

All in all it was a great 3 days. It was so much fun to spend time with the Skinners, Burnhams, Walkers, and Millers ... and we wished others could have been there as well! Favorite parts of the weekend were: playing games, laughing, and telling stories into the early morning hours, cooking and sharing delicious recipes, and hanging out in a new and beautiful place. The only not-so-good parts were: a terrifying episode involving wooden stairs, a nasty smell coming from the fridge, and not enough sleep. But thankfully we are all home safe and sound! Now it's back to real life and lots of studying until December 19th!