Dear Santa

My ridiculous and unrealistic Christmas Wish List (for Eric to reference in a couple of yrs - when money is no longer an object)

1. A dog
   
2. A Nikon D-40 (or some such SLR)
   
3. TRA Action Set(s)
   
4. A place to call home
   
5. Pretty shoes
   
6. A Kindle
   
7. A MacBook Pro
   
8. A fancy smart phone to match the hubster's
   
9. A trip to New Zealand
   
10. An Alaskan or Mediterranean cruise
    
11. Tickets to Wicked when we're in NY for New Yrs
    
12. Tickets to the Fiesta Bowl

So, this is my material...list. The other day someone asked me what I wanted for Christmas, and I couldn't think of anything. Nothing I needed anyway, but I'm sure we all have things we want. There's no harm in "window shopping", right?

What's on YOUR (if-money-was-no-object) list?

Christmas Project

My one and only Christmas project this year - a 14 x 14" calendar for Mom:

And this, ahem, is what I hope to make next year... (Pottery Barn Advent Calendar, sells for $149 - yikes!)

TDay+

We had a modest group this Thanksgiving - about 14 of us. That didn't stop us from preparing enough food for the masses. I don't know what possesed me to make 35 potatoes, but I did, and now everyone's had to suffer through mashed potatoes for every meal since. Actually, I think all I've had to eat this week is dutch apple pie & crackers/cheeseball. Not a bad diet. After Thanksgiving, we drove down to SLC to visit Eric's sister, Andrea's, family. We rarely get to see them. Their kids are so warm and cuddly. Andrea spoiled us with her yummy, healthy meals. Eric and I both like eating healthy foods, but we're not always willing to take the extra effort to prepare it. If only we all could have an Andrea! On Saturday, we all showed off our grace on the Olympic Oval. By the way, we also got to see Patalie & Ava. Patrick abandoned us Saturday to go watch the BYU-UT game, but we've forgiven him. On the 20th, a group of us hit the midnight showing of New Moon. We got there a few hours early b/c we weren't sure how insane it would be, but it was fun to sit and chat with everyone. It always ends up being more about the experience than the movie.
Ava was so darn cute on the ice. She loved it.

Washington & Coeur d'Alene

Road trip! This past week Eric and I spent nearly 14 magical hours in the car. We survived with a little help from the Great Gatsby and Eric's very impressive (and deafening) musical impression of Jean Valjean. During the drive we almost hit 2 deer and a cat and passed some impressive landmarks (ie. The Hungry Redneck Cafe, Woodchuck Trucks, etc.) Unfortunately, we made the mistake of taking the barren desert freeway route through eastern Oregon/WA on our way there and took a much prettier way home through Coeur d'Alene and western Idaho - when it was dark! So, instead of enjoying the gorgeous fall-colored pine trees and mountains, we just admired their silhouettes.

The purpose of our little roadtrip was so Eric could meet for an interview with a firm in Spokane. He's now had 2 job interviews - 1 in Boise & 1 in Spokane, both of which went really well. I think the hiring committees were impressed. Unfortunately, the Boise firm isn't even hiring, but they were impressed enough with Eric's credentials to at least meet with him & maybe consider creating a position. The Spokane interview went great as well, but they apologized to Eric in advance for the "glacial" pace at which they conduct their hiring decisions. Apparently, Eric was one of the first to be interviewed. So now we wait!

The building on the right is the Spokane firm (19th floor). Eric unknowningly ran a solid red light trying to point it out to me as I was taking a picture out of our sunroof.

It was a close one, but Eric's proud to say he beat the statue.

These last two photos are of Coeur d'Alene. It's so stinkin' beautiful! We wouldn't mind living here. And these pictures don't do it justice; it was a weird overcast day.

And that's all! It was a fun trip. On Wed. night we got to have dinner with some old friends from BYU-I so that was really nice. Thanks again for having us over Fischers, and great dinner Melanie! I'll have to steal that recipe from you.

In Action

I suddenly find myself in love with a 30 y/o man. Eric's big 3-0 was yesterday, and we celebrated with crab legs & frisbee golf. Eric always beats me terribly, but it's good fun. This is Eric below making a nice mid-range shot.

This 2nd video is of us experimenting with one of Ty's wedding gifts - a parasail! None of us really knew what we were doing, but after about 2 or 3 hours and a lot of face-planting, we finally got it up! Turns out we had it upside down the entire time! Once we fixed that little problem, it was a peice of cake. We were a hilarious sight those first few tries - there were about 6 of us trying to hold the parasail open and high-step it on the sand bar to keep up with the boat, eventually being sucked down to the water, face-first when we couldn't keep up anymore. We always felt like we were so close, but because it was upside down, we never stood a chance (the wind was forcing it the wrong direction). Just watch until 1:10 or so. Thanks for recording Tiffany!

Fall...

How can anyone dislike the fall? It's stunning. So stunning in fact that I've been stealing pictures from our sunroof while driving. For the past week, we've had 70 degree weather & gorgeous blue skies. Eric and I have been doing our best to take advantage of the season - ice blocking, frisbee golf, street markets, a little hiking, and a lot of football.

6 years, 6 cars

We've only been married for 6 years, but somehow we've owned 6 cars. Most of them have been good to us, but for one reason or another we had to sell. One got smashed by a neighbor's Ranger (like a dune buggy). One was sold so we could escape to our tropical island. One was a mistake. One had terrible gas mileage, and the last had to stay on our tropical island.

Let us reflect...

1998 Nissan Sentra ($5500). Our first "married" car. This car was with us in Rexburg, Boise, Omaha, DC, back to Omaha & back to Boise. After 4 good years, I had to witness the death of our dear Sentra when a friend came ripping around the corner in his dune buggy, consequently slamming into our (innocently parked) car and then rolling and getting thrown from his. No humans were harmed.

1993 Toyota "PUH-say-oh", a bazillion miles on this thing but an awesome lil' car! (only cost us $800, from $1200). I'm suprised they stopped selling them in '97 because I've read nothing but great reviews about the Paseo. I think they're immortal.

1997 Nissan Altima ($1700, from $2000)...Not the smartest purchase. This was our first car on Saipan, and it wasn't really a good match for the island. The weather & unpaved roads had taken it's toll on this little guy. Luckily, we were able to sell it in one piece.

1999 Nissan Pathfinder ($4000, from $5500!). LOVED this car! Just didn't love filling it up - esp. since gas prices were of course at record highs during the Pathfinder era.

Thus, we replaced the brute Pathfinder with a little weanie '01 Toyota Echo ($3800 solid). It did get great gas, but it felt so light and cheap, I wasn't sad to let her go.

And as of Tuesday, we are now the proud owners of a Lexus ES 300 ($3100, from $3500). Ok, so it's a 1995, but we love it! Tan leather, heated seats, auto everything & very well-maintained. Low miles too (for a '95). So far, very happy with the purchase!

Aug - Sept 2009

A few memories from the past month (Ok, so it's mostly Ava, but she's so darn cute!)...P.S. It's not really 20 pages, just 11 - in no particular order.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Patalie's Visit

Thanks again for coming Pat, Nat & Ava - we had a blast!

Tiffler's Wedding

Ty finally got hitched!

Hard Goodbye

Hands down, the hardest move yet. We left behind, not only the ocean and sunshine, but also the best friends we've ever had & certainly, the best branch we have ever and will ever be a part of.

We made a very last-minute decision to move so we only had one Sunday to say goodbye to the branch that we loved so much. I was resistant to give a full-blown talk that Sunday because, in addition to only having a few short hours to prepare, I just knew I would be an emotional wreck. And I was, but I'm glad I had the chance to express my gratitude to all of the members that had made such a huge impact on my life over the course of 2 years. Then, during the 3rd hr, the YW gave me an incredible gift when they decided to cancel their individual classes and share their testimonies instead. I can't quite explain how significant that was for me.


And the outpouring of love continued on through the evening when the branch threw us a last-minute going away party at the Conner's home. It was humbling to see all of the people who came to share their love. During the course of the night, we were given dozens of thoughtful gifts and letters. The most touching part, however, was when they all sang "God Be With You Till We Meet Again."