Top 10 of 2010

As we say goodbye to 2010 here are 10 things, in no particular order, we learned throughout the year:

1 - Never pass a police officer on the freeway.
2 - Cramming three friends into the back of your car for a 10 hour ride makes for good company.
3 - If you're on Ellis Island checking the database on a hunch just might be worth it. You never know who you might find.
4 - Spring term and Econ classes are not a good combination.
5 - As long as your on "Team Allie" it doesn't matter if you walk or run the 5k, you're going to win.
6 - When going Black Friday shopping, try to find find the food storage crowd; they know how to have a good time.
7 - Pay the fees for PA school applications and eventually someone will let you come to their school.
8 - People like pie. When you invite the ward to a pie party be sure to make enough (luckily we did)
9 - Doing a Primary program with only three kids isn't as hard as you would think.
10 - You can get a lot done while on hold with insurance companies.

2010 has been a great year. Thanks for all your support this year. We can't wait to see what 2011 will bring!

Christmas Tree

This is our Christmas tree this year. I love it! It's the perfect size for our tiny apartment and I love the garland of felt circles I got at a craft show to go around it.

Christmas Canning

Ok, so maybe we did the canning over Thanksgiving, but it's for Christmas and I liked the alliteration. I've been wanting to learn to can for a couple of years and this summer I was able to go up and help Wendy can tomatoes. Then when I got some birthday money this year I discovered the supplies were pretty cheap. This year Will and I found a spagetti sauce recipe that we love, so I decided that would be a perfect 1st canning experience. Not only that, but we thought it would make fun Christmas gifts to some of our friends, like giving a plate of goodies, but instead it's healthier and they can wait to use it until they're making spagetti or lasanga. Last night we made labels that say Merry Christmas and tonight for FHE we're going to go deliver them!

Quilt

Some of you might remember seeing pictures of this quilt on our blog before. Just to clarify those pictures were taken when I finished pieceing the top of the quilt. Now I have finally finished the quilt. I love it! I didn't use batting in the middle but just an extra layer of flannel. I didn't want to have to quilt over the tops of the t-shirts. Wendy and Cait were kind enough to help me pin the quilt and I watched the 1st and 2nd season on Pushing Daisies as I quilted (mostly on nights Will had to stay on campus late to write papers). I would highly recommend the show. I finally fished quilting it right before Thanksgiving and finished the binding last week. I'm quite proud of this creation!

Black Friday

A post will be coming about the pie party we had on Sunday but for now, things are going to be out of order.

Sara and I don't do crowds very well. I can handle them alright when I'm not with anyone, I don't like keeping track of the people I'm with. Sara on the other hand doesn't like crowds at all. So it is kind of odd that we went out on Friday morning to do some shopping.

Our first stop was Gregory's Wheat Shop in Bountiful. They had a wheat grinder on sale that Sara had been eyeing for a number of months and at $50 off we decided to go for it. We were able to get the grinder but unfortunately we were not one of the first 20 people in line (the store opened at 8 and we rolled into the parking lot at 7:57) so we didn't get the stick blender on sale for $20 that my mother was hoping for.

We took a quick stop at Wal-Mart to check out the DVDs. I don't know what we were expecting, everything went on sale at midnight and we come waltzing in at 9:00 only to find out that everything was picked over...shocker.

After stopping for some Tasty's Double Blueberry Donuts we continued up to Ogden to listen to Maren perform at the Christmas Tree Jubilee. She's much better than I ever was, maybe it has to do with the fact that she practices.

From there we went to the Layton Hills Mall ("What?!?" you say, "both Wal-Mart and the mall on Black Friday? You must be crazy!"). I needed new shoes. Mine have been giving me pain for the last few weeks but I've been reluctant. After being "helped" by a poorly dressed, poorly trained employee with improper hygiene habits we found some shoes that I like.

After that we journeyed through the mall to Macy's so that we could pick up some Fiesta serving bowls. The amazing thing is that we didn't go crazy with all of the people around us. The funny thing is that we just bought things for ourselves, not for each other.

Snow Days

This article expresses all of Sara's thoughts about snow and how it should be dealt with.

Primary Program

I wasn't sure we could do it, (with all 3 of our primary children) but our kids pulled it off beautifully! They all knew their parts and sang all the songs! It turned out great!

Writing

I know it's been a while since you've heard from me. I just want you to know that I'm still alive and kicking.

If anyone has questions about resale price maintenance and how vertical pricing has played a role in the past 100 years of economic antitrust and law regulation, I'm the guy you should talk to.

Also, if you've ever wondered about foreign direct investment's and trade liberalization's effect on child labor throughout the world, I might know a thing or two about that as well.

Who knew a degree in Economics would require so much writing?

10/10/10

In celebration of this date, Will and I came up with a top ten list of reasons we're excited about Portland. Just this week we made our final decision about where we're headed next year for PA school. Oregon Health Sciences in Portland won. Here's why we're excited:

1. Close to family - just a three hour drive for Mom to come visit! And only two hours up to Will's Grandpa.
   
2. Rain! I'm very excited to be headed back to the green Northwest. (Will is going to miss the snow, but I promised him we can come back and visit it)
   
3. OHSU - when I interviewed I loved the program and am so excited about getting started in June.
   
4. Powells - one of my favorite used bookstores
   
5. Public Transportation - between the MAX(the rail system), the streetcar and buses we hope to continue getting around with just one car.
   
6. A real job for Will - we're not sure with who, or what he will be doing - but we excited about it! ....we have dreams of Nike....but we'll see
7. Being able to visit the Oregon Coast - beautiful!
   
8. A new apartment - we've made a washer and a dryer a priority - we can do without a dishwasher, but I'm so excited to be able to throw my laundry in when I leave the house in the morning.
9. No sales tax in Oregon - feel free to come visit and go shopping!
   
10. Voodoo Donuts! We haven't been but we've heard it's quite the adventure - we're planning a quick trip down to Portland in December and this is on our list.

The Scooter

What's it called when someone thinks their sick but they're really not...hypochondriac? Yeah, my scooter thinks it's one of those.

When I first got it the handlebars wouldn't lock when parked. After a little bit of playing around it started working again.

Since returning from Alabama the seat has never latched shut. Until last week when it suddenly decided to start working again. Now I can keep all my valuables in it, or at least the registration and insurance instead of keeping it in my wallet all the time.

Tonight I learned that the gas light doesn't turn on. Luckily I was right next to the Marriott Center so I parked it there and continued on foot (tragic) to a lecture. After wards I pushed it across the street to the football stadium, got it rolling down hill and coasted through the parking lot to end up right across the street for Chevron. The funny thing is that while I was coasting the gas light was faintly glowing... why couldn't it have done that earlier?

Getting in

Ladies and Gentlemen, the results are in! I will be going to PA school next year! Will and I checked the mail last night and low and behold there was a letter from the Midwestern Glendale program accepting me into their class for next year! It's not the final word - We'll still wait to hear from some other programs, but the best part is I know I'm going to start PA school next year! WOOHOO!

Midnight Ride

As you all know I've been traveling alone for interview recently and I just have to share the story of my cab ride to the airport Saturday morning. I was in Winston-Salem, NC to interview at Wake Forest. I was hoping to get moved to the first flight out on Saturday at 6:15 am - I figured it was my best chance - who wants to leave at 6:15 on Saturday morning. So I set my alarm for 3:15 and called - sure enough there was a spot. So I packed my bags and headed down to the front desk to see if I could get a ride from their shuttle. Turns out the driver doesn't get there until 5:00am. Understandable, I suppose. So I asked them to call me a cab. The cab arrived and after loading in my luggage and pulling out of the hotel he said we had to go get gas. Sure enough it was true - we ran out of gas a block and a half before the gas station, but luckily it was downhill and we could coast. This gas station just happened to have 10 or so people milling around at 3:45 in the morning. But they all turned out to be good friends with my cab driver. This was slightly reassuring - I was no longer worried about the people milling around, but I was slightly more concerned about the cab driver. We finally finish getting gas and are on the freeway when the cab makes a horrible clunking noise and the entire car starts to shake. He pulls over to the shoulder and checks - no flat tires - so he decides we're good to go. But as soon as we reach 5mph the entire cars starts shaking again. At this point I decide it's necessary to pipe up so I ask if they're someone else who could come pick us up and get me to the airport. The cab driver gets out of the car - calls his dispatcher - who sends someone else out. But then the cab drivers stays out of the car to have a smoke. But he doesn't stay on the protected side of the car, but wanders around the freeway at 4:00am. Now I'm concerned that he's going to get hit by one of the semi trucks roaring past us! Great- I'll have to call 911 and I have no idea where we are - somewhere on the freeway toward the Greensboro airport. Luckily after 25 minutes the other cab shows up and we have an uneventful ride to the airport. Looking back on the whole event I'm amazed at how calm I felt through most of it. Gotta love these great travel stories.

Books

I'm off to Phoenix tomorrow for my 1st interview, but first I wanted to quickly recommend two books I've read this last week. First The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. It was very interesting and a nice read - especially for nonfiction. The second is The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley. I loved this book - the main character is eleven years old, loves chemistry and hilarious. So, if you're looking for something to read - two great ideas right there!

Will's Update

I don't have much to say besides school has started and who knew that an Econ degree would require you to read and write so much?

PA School Interviews

Just a quick update, this month is going to be crazy and mostly because of my PA school interviews. But the fact that I have interviews is incredibly exciting! I thought I'd let you all know where I'm headed in the next little while in my quest to get in to PA school.

Sept. 13th - Midwestern - Glendale AZ
Sept. 17th - Wake Forest - North Carolina
Sept. 25th - George Washington - Washington DC - I'll get to stay with Blake for this trip :)
Sept 27th - Oregon Health Sciences University - Portland, OR
Oct. 25th - Emory - Atlanta, GA
Oct. 29th - Midwestern - Downer's Grove, IL

That's the current plan. We'll keep you posted!

Grassroots Shakespeare

For months I've been wanting to participate in the Grassroots Shakespeare Company's Play-in-a-Day Workshops. In the past the dates have just never worked out for me. You sign up for them and the week before the show they email you your lines and you come with them (hopefully) memorized on Saturday where you have 2.5 hours together to rehearse and put on the play.

I was finally able to do this on July 31st. The play was Midsummer Night's Dream and it was a blast. We rehearsed the scenes in small groups and then were supposed to do a run through. I say supposed to but we only got through 4 or 5 scenes before the reception close to us in the park got too loud with their band. After moving to a new location in the park there just wasn't time so we decided to just wing it. The show wasn't perfect but it sure was fun to do.

These pictures are from one of the first scenes in the play. There's an acting troupe in the play that puts on a play within the play and I played the role of Bottom, the actor that wanted to play every part there was (I thought it was a nice fit for me). It was a blast to do that scene with Greg, we haven't acted together since our time together at Dear Old Davis High.

The actors waiting to get their parts

G-reg and myself as I try to talk him into giving me more parts

Showing off how I would play such a great Thysbe

Ben Folds

So life has been a little busy the past few weeks. We had a great vacation up in Washington which you'll be hearing more about later.

Clear back in July (the 17th to be exact) Ben Folds came to the Deer Valley Amphitheater to do a concert with the Utah Symphony. We thought "He's playing with a symphony, I bet he'll be a little more toned down than in other concerts." So we decided to go.

We forgot the camera so we don't have any pictures but we still had a great time. He had just played a show in London two nights before so going from sea level to Park City was a little rough, he couldn't sustain some notes as long as normal but it was still a great show. His opening number was Zac and Sara which during the second verse he forgot the lyrics but was able to improv some.

Sara's former co-worker but still current friend, Shandy, was the one who told us about the concert and we ran into her so she sat next to us. On our way in I saw my High School Theatre teacher, Andra, so during the intermission I took Sara to meet her and it was nice for her to be able to put a face and personality to Andra because she's heard many stories from my days in high school theatre.

We had a great time, and don't worry, we'll be bring our camera to the Dave Matthews Band Concert this Tuesday.

Scooter Cover

Most of those in the Passey family are familiar with the scooter. It's be through Brent, Alli, Will, Cait and back to Will. It currently has 13,064.9 miles on it. It's held together in a few places by duck tape. And until today it had a disgusting seat, the vinyl had long since worn away and the foam has been soaked and frozen in the winter by snow and rain and baked in the summer heat. It now has the consistency of the green foam that's used to hold flowers in place. However, today Will proposed a new sewing project for me. So I present to you the new scooter cover! We'll have to get a picture of Will with it in his matching apron. (The fabric is leftover from the apron I made him for Christmas.) It's not perfect, but it will do in a pinch and will hopefully solve the problem of Will coming in with orange dust covering his backside.

Final New York Post

Here's a quick rap up with a few of the pictures that didn't fit with the themes of the other posts, but we still wanted to share them with you!

The Manhattan Temple: the lower floors serve as a chapel, so that's where we went to church on Sunday. We sang the most rousing intermediate hymn I've ever sung before and we learned that over half the ward was visitors.
The Empire State Building: Will and I got to go with Dad - which was great because he's so familiar with the city from when he went to NYU. We loved the art deco style so prominent throughout.
Recognize this one? It's the Seinfeld restaurant. Will and I went with Mom to a bookstore and looked out the window to find this beauty. We verified with store employees that that's the place.

Grand Central Station: The family on our last night in New York. We split up here - Mom and Dad went back to the hotel and Blake and Will and I headed to a special place to get toasted marshmallow milkshakes that Blake's friends in NY had introduced him to. Don't worry, for those of you who know Will doesn't like marshmallows there was still something for him there. See the picture below for proof.
The good news is he didn't finish the whole thing!

Thanks again for a wonderful trip Mom and Dad! We had a great time and made wonderful memories!

Shows!

While in New York we were able to see 3 shows!

Promises, Promises: Great singing by Kristen Chenoweth (she's Glenda on the Wicked soundtrack), but not our favorite plot. It's based on a movie, The Apartment. Also be warned, it's billed a comedy, but we thought it was pretty sad.

Lend Me a Tenor: This wasn't a musical, just a play, but this was really was a comedy. It has Tony Shaloub and it was hilarious. Our favorite I think. The other excited thing was seeing the actor who played Ben Linus on Lost - he was in the audience that night. I couldn't work up the nerve to talk to him, but Blake sat next to him at intermission.

South Pacific: Last, but not least we got to see this revival at the Lincoln Center. It was really great and fun to hear such familiar songs.

Ellis Island & Statue of Liberty

This was at the top of my list when we started planning our New York trip - so I was very excited to go. Not only was this neat because of the stuff we got to see, but we had a family connection as well. While at the Ellis Island Museum we were able to search for ancestors that came through Ellis Island, we didn't know if we had anymore for sure, but Dad thought maybe Meta Hafermann - my great grandmother might have come through with her family. All the of ships manifests have be computerized into a search-able database. It was amazing how quickly were were able to find Meta and her entire family. They arrived on August 10th 1905. From the ship's manifest we can see the names, ages, occupations, port of departure and the place they were headed in the states (Bushton, Kansas). It was really neat and it make the entire trip different to realize that my great grandmother passed through Ellis Island and was greeted by the Statue of Liberty on her journey with her family to Kansas. It was a really wonderful day!

Mom and me with Lady Liberty

Will and I waiting for the ferry.

The skyline from the ferry.

The ferry was standing room mostly - made me think of all the immigrants who came to Ellis Island!

NY highlights #1

Rather than bore you all with a minute by minute run down of our fabulous trip to New York - thanks parents! - we thought we'd just hit some of the highlights. Sadly Mom has some of the pictures I would like to use in Seattle, but we'll just have to make due.

Museums! We were able to devote separate days to the MET (Metropolitan Museum of Art), The Museum of Natural History and the MOMA (Modern of Modern Art). They were both fabulous!

Highlights of the MET:
- Frank Lloyd Wright Room: An actual recreated room from a house that he designed down to the furniture and everything.
- Will got to see Ring Starr's gold drum
- Cypresses by Van Gogh

Highlights of the MOMA:
- Starry Night: clearly this would be on everyone's list, but I was shocked at how vibrant and beautiful the colors were in real life.
- One: Number 31, 1950: a huge Jackson Pollack

Highlights of the Natural History Museum:
- The Silk Road Exhibit: Mom teaches this each year in 6th grade so it was pretty neat to go through with her

We also decided the MOMA not only had the best food in their cafes, but they were the least crowded with the best service! :) We ate in a number of museum cafes during the trip.

Fun with nieces

Will and I really enjoyed having Amber and the girls down here in Provo for part of the their visit. They were able to come to our apartment one night for dinner and play outside on our sweet dinosaur playground. Collin, a five year old from our ward wanted to play Star Wars with them and had a hard time incorporating Sammi's request that she be Snow White. Collin only has a little brother - I'm not even sure he knows who Snow White is.

Then it turned out I had a random Friday off of work while they were here, so I was able to join Amber, her mom and the girls for a fun day at the farm section of Thanksgiving point. It was fun to watch the girls interact with the animals. They both got to go pony rides - Elli could never figure out where I was, but she could hear me calling her name.

Elli looking for me - she and Sammi both enjoyed the ponies so much!

She finally found me, the last time around.

The girls in a play area - this was Sammi's favorite part. (mine was the ice cream sandwich and chocolate milk samples)

Amber and the girls!

Thanks for a wonderful day! We miss you guys but are so glad you were able to come and visit. Amber was able to steal away one night to play games - which is always a blast, but makes us miss Brent even more!

Balloons!

Blake gave us tickets to the Breakfast and Balloon Launch at the Provo Freedom Festival. We had a great time even though it was at 6AM.

It was a simple breakfast of pancakes, ham, yogurt and bananas but watching the balloons was the real reason we came.

As you know it's easy to get a ridiculous amount of balloon shots so I'll try not to go overboard.

1st Real 5K

I say that this is my first real 5K because in Jr. High the only reason I "ran" a 5K was because it gave me extra credit in gym.

The Kaysville Rotary 5k Run for Reading took place on Saturday July 3rd. We were part of Team Allie Cooper since she took 1st place overall in the Women's category.

We both felt really good about our times and everyone in the group beat their goal, so overall the race was a big success.

Finally

I know it's been a while but we're back and you can expect a number of posts over the next few days.

First I would like to draw your attention back to the beginning of April when I presented in the Sloan Public Speaking Showcase. They finally put the speeches up. Can you believe that this got me $100 to the BYU Bookstore? In fact, on Friday I pre-ordered Mockingjay, the last book in the Hunger Games series. Now all I have left is $3.54, just the right amount to buy some fudge.

1st stage of PA school applications

My central application for PA school is finally in!! WOOT! This is definitely something to be excited about. I'm now working on secondary apps for a number of schools and then the waiting game begins for Will and me. I thought I'd share the essay I wrote for the central application. It should be error free, but if you find something just don't tell me - it's already submitted. Quick thanks to Mom and Dad who helped edit everything! :)

“¡Mi niño no puede respirar! Porfavor, Senora, neccesitamos ver el doctor!” Maria urgently implored as she burst into Dr. Aizad’s office, cradling her two-month-old son in her arms. I sought to calm the terribly distraught Maria as I quickly took her and her son to an exam room. Just a week ago Carlos was in the office with a slight cough and runny nose, but now his tiny chest heaved as he fought to get oxygen into his lungs. I remembered that Maria has trouble understanding English, so I reassured her that I would stay and translate during the exam. Dr. Aizad determined that Carlos was positive for RSV and asked me to help Maria understand that her son needed deep suction therapy at the hospital. As she hurried to leave, I gave her a copy of the order we had faxed to the hospital and made sure she knew the route. During these twenty minutes, I encountered three of the key factors that fuel my passion to become a physician’s assistant – forming relationships with people, working as part of a dedicated service team and meeting the intellectual challenge of new experiences. As I reflect on these key factors, specific experiences come to mind. A gathering with friends shows my passion for forming relationships, a Sunday morning with the children of our congregation displays my ability to work within a team, and anatomy class illustrates my love for learning.

The enticing smell of cinnamon drifts through our small apartment. The kitchen table is covered with pies—chocolate pecan, peanut butter, tollhouse, apple, and berry, all ready to be eaten. “Knock, knock,” announce Carson and Jordan, carrying in yet another dessert. It’s Pi Day (3.14 or March 14) and we are celebrating. Our apartment quickly fills with friends, neighbors, and family. The pies may be the cause for my husband’s excitement, but for me, it’s all about the people. I treasure the chance to gather with those we love and catch up on each other’s lives. Our new neighbors stop by, Sarah and Nate bring their newborn, and by the end of the night we’ve stuffed ourselves with tasty pie and savored friendly conversation. The pleasure of this evening is not in the variety of pies, but in our human interactions, the chance to connect and listen to one another and to share a little laughter. The opportunity to build relationships with patients and co-workers as a PA is extremely appealing to me.
It's another Sunday morning and I'm teaching, singing to and playing with the children of our congregation. I’m part of a team of four women who plan the Sunday School program for children ages 18 months up to 12 years. It would be impossible for any of us to handle the children alone, but as a team we are able to instruct, entertain, monitor, and interact with each child. I thrive in teamwork situations where I can assist others and also rely on my colleagues to improve my performance.

The excitement in the room is palpable. We crowd together, craning our necks to get a good view, while the TA identifies the muscles of the forearm on one of the cadavers in the lab. “Here we have the extensor carpi ulnaris,” she says, pointing to a long muscle stretching the length of the forearm. I am fascinated and can hardly wait until her lecture is over so our class can divide into groups around the four cadavers to review and teach each other. This class ignited my desire to learn about the human body and sparked my interest in becoming a physician’s assistant. My experiences working as a medical assistant and shadowing physician’s assistants have confirmed that a career as a PA will offer the intellectual stimulation I crave, providing a lifetime of learning as I strive to solve new problems on a daily basis.

Building relationships, working as part of a service team, and enjoying a lifetime of intellectual stimulation are three of the key aspects that fuel my desire to become a physician’s assistant. My interaction with Maria and Carlos is just one example of the numerous experiences that have prompted my desire to become a PA. “¿Hola, como está el niño hoy?” I ask as Maria arrives with Carlos a month later for a well child check. “Mucho mejor!” Maria warmly answers. She continues to tell me about Carlos’ improved health as she lifts him out of the carrier and brings him to the front desk. He rewards me with smiles and I beam back at him. Experiences like these confirm that a career as a physician’s assistant is the right choice for me.

Roommate Reunions

This post is about a week late - life is busy at the moment. Last weekend was a real treat. Saturday night we had a Treehouse reunion and then Sunday night we had a Sparks reunion. Sadly I forgot to take pictures at the second, but here are a few pictures from Saturday night. Margaret and Tony were kind enough to come down from Salt Lake to hang out with all of us before Sarah and Nate and Baby Ada leave for med school. It was so much fun to see everyone and catch up. We had a delicious pot luck complete with an amazing chocolate cake - I've got to get that recipe before Sarah leaves.

Here's the whole group - gotta love self timers on cameras S-Max boosted herself up just in time.

Just the girls - we missed Janna, but pay special attention to S-Max's face in this picture - I love it! :)

Sunday night, Carson & Jordan, Kim & Ryan & McKay, Rachel & David, and Steph & Kevin joined us for a delicious Japanese dinner. We missed Taylor and Dean, but we thought AZ was a little far to ask them to drive. :) Everyone brought their assigned ingredients and we make gyoza while Will cooked up some delicious yaki soba. A fun night was had by all and we learned that if we move our couch to the porch and bring in an extra table we can comfortably seat 11 people for dinner in our little apartment - quite the feat if you ask me! Thanks everyone for coming - it was so much fun to catch up.

Cement

We had a section of our sidewalk that the roots of the trees had pushed up so on Thursday they tore it out and Friday they poured new cement. As would be expected, a small child made it past the barrier (of yellow Caution! tape) and made a last impression. You might think to blame me but here's a shot of my foot above the imprint to prove that my feet are too big to make those marks.

Leafy Trees and Snow

On Monday of this past week we received an unexpected treat: Snow! And since the trees already had a healthy amount of leaves on them their branches just couldn't handle it. Here's a shot of what our Quad looked like.

Park City Getaway

A belated wedding present is always nice. Sara didn't have work on Friday and I decided I didn't have work so Thursday night we took off to Park City. Sara's brother, Blake, works at the Marriott here in Provo and can get his family members a fantastic deal on rooms. For our wedding present he got us a room at the Summit Watch Marriott. The room was about twice as big as our apartment and there was a nice big jacuzzi tub to relax in. We got there at around 5:30, wandered up and down Main Street, drove out of Park City to get some dinner (it's a lot cheaper that way, we found a Kneaders up there that has their bread on sale after 5 so we bought a loaf for later). We had dreams of staying up late and sleeping in because we had zero responsibilities the next day, but as soon as our normal 10:30 bedtime hit we crashed. We did sleep in though!



The next day we took I-84 around the back side of the mountains so that we could drop of the camping gear that we had hoped to us Friday night but the rain canceled those plans for us. It was still a nice drive and we got to see Devil's Slide along the way.



It was nice to stop by at home in Kaysville and wish Mom a happy birthday (even if it was a day late). After being on the road most of the day it was also fantastic to return to our apartment and sit and stare at the wall (that's what I did, Sara is a little too engrossed in her book right now).

I took the picture with the camera on my phone, that's why their so small. We forgot our real one.

Low 'n Slow

So after looking at America's Test Kitchen (ATK) for weeks I decided it was time to attempt grilling a rack for a barbeque with our friends on Saturday. I started by soaking the rack in a pot of salt and sugar water. After that I put on the rub and once the coals were ready I started grilling.

The secret, according to ATK, was to have the coals on one half of the grill with Hickory chips on top of them and the ribs on the side without coals. After 4 hours of smoking and indirect heat they were done.

When mixing up the rub I forgot that it was for 2 racks and I was just doing one so all the extra spices formed a thicker crust than intended but the meat still fell right off the bone and they were delicious. Not too bad for a first go-round of smoking ribs.

quilt

I finally finished the T-shirt quilt I've been wanting to make since high school. Finished is a lose term. I just finished piecing the top. I still have to buy batting and quilt it, but still I think this accomplishment is worth a little reveling in. My favorite part of the picture is Will's feet. He was kind enough to hold the quilt up for the picture. :)

Bookstore Winnings

As mother said a few weeks ago, I participated in the Sloan Showcase for Public Speaking. There's no winner but just for speaking you get $100 to the BYU Bookstore. The big question was what was I going to do with the winnings. My first impression was that I could buy a lot of fudge. Instead I settled for the following objects.

1st Purchase: The BYU Headband.

Here's the deal, the Bookstore was having it's typical end of the semester Storewide 20% off sale. The head was on sale for an additional 25% off. That means the $10 headband was actually $6 (Take off 25% the the 20%).

Purchase #2: Underarmor
I've been jealous that Ann has been getting her's for free but if you really think about it, so was mine. Now this long sleeved logo bearing shirt would normally be $60 but I found it on the 40% off rack, take an additional 20% off that and the grand total is $28.80. Admit it, you're jealous.

Third, and most exciting purchase: Custom Frame for our Commissioned Picture

We have been looking for a picture of the Seattle Temple that we really liked ever since we got married and we just couldn't find one. Lucky for us, my good friend Jeff Hassing has a job drawing temples. We asked him if he'd be willing to draw one for us. He said yes, we showed him the angle of the temple that we wanted and after a few weeks (he had other temples to draw at a better $/hour) of waiting we finally got it. It looks fantastic and we were able to get it framed the next day.

We still have some money left on the card, odds are we'll be using that to purchase the last book in the Hunger Games series that will be coming out this August. All in all, not too bad for spending about 15 minutes thinking about why Batman is better than Superman.

P.S. They still haven't put the videos up at sloanshowcase.byu.edu, I'll let you know when they do.

Nightstands

From the time that we got married until last week Sara was using two crates stacked next to her side of the bed to act as a nightstand. Since we only owned two crates I didn't have anything (don't worry, I was totally fine with that). Well last week we decided to use the last of the gift card that Sara's old office gave her for Christmas and headed off to IKEA to look for nightstands for both us. We found a nice pair that matched our dresser.

I'll be honest, I had no idea what I was missing. I now have a light next to my side of the bed that I can turn on and off at will. I can place a book, my phone or a plate with cake on it (although I would never do that because I hate going to bed without brushing my teeth and if I ate cake right before bed I would have to wait a while before brushing because I think it's disgusting to brush your teeth with so much food left in them). Back on topic... we also brought in a standing lamp for Sara's side of the bed. It's not in the picture to the right but she also placed a stunning photo of yours truly that, although she won't admit it, she'll wake up and stare at in the middle of the night.

31 Cent Scoop Night

It's tonight, April 28th. Click Here to find the nearest store to you.

Graduation!

Thursday and Friday I graduated by BYU! Mom and Dad came down from Seattle for the occasion and Wendy came from Kaysville. It's pretty exciting to think that I'm done with my undergrad...kind of. I'm still taking one more class in Spring that Baylor's PA program requires. So classes start again for me and Will on Tuesday. Not much of a break, but we made the most of it that we could. We had a lovely meal with Mom, Dad, Blake and Wendy at Indian Palace. We saw "How to Train Your Dragon" - very fun! Saturday after dropping Mom and Dad at the airport we made a trip to Ikea to purchase nightstands - new blog about that coming soon. Then we rounded out the day with a trip up to Park City to help celebrate Calvin's first birthday and a barbecue back in Provo with friends last night. Quite the weekend! :) Will took this picture of me right after they called my name and I walked across the stage.

More French Toast

So I'm always thinking of how I can make my favorite breakfast even better. The Saturday before General Conference I had an idea: What if I made my own cinnamon bread to use for french toast. Sara thought it was a good idea as well so we made ourselves some bread.

Next time I think I'll roll the dough out a little thinner to get more swirls and cut the bread thinner as well so that it cooks all the way through (the middle was a tiny bit soggier than Sara liked). It was still delicious though.