Putting out small fires...

Summer always goes by too quickly! Let's start with the fun stuff. Today I planted some of our ever-expanding crop of hen and chicks into an old milk can that sits out by our front sidewalk. I think they will be a good plant for this spot, because they will get watered occasionally with the grass, but I won't have to worry too much if they get dried out. Cute too, no?

While yard-work has slowed down some, our tomato crop is in full swing. They are about 7 feet tall. We have ideas for slight modifications to the trellis system for next season, but overall we're very pleased!

(5.20.2010)                                               (8.14.2010)

After plentiful watering, the re-seeded grass is also doing quite well. I'm really excited to see how it looks next spring!

(October 2009)                                 (August 2010)

Jason has taken up some fall gardening projects, including seeing if he can start a fall crop of lettuce and peas. Out of the 4 lettuce starts, 2 died within their first 24 hours in the sun, however the peas are doing ok so far. Hopefully the pesky skunk doesn't dig them up like he did in the spring. In additional animal news, we now believe the problem with our pond is not neighborhood children but a raccoon that likes to occasionally go wading. (More like thrashing). We came to this conclusion about a week ago when it cooled down enough to sleep with our bedroom window open, and Jason woke up to splashing sounds. By the time he got outside all that was left were wet rocks surrounding the pond, and tangled and mangled water lilies. Luckily this isn't a nightly occurrence, but I sure would like to throw rocks at a certain neighborhood raccoon. Grr!

              (Skunk Damage Spring 2010)                                     (Fall Pea Crop 8.14.2010)

I am tired of Jason hiking every weekend. I'm too much of a homebody to want to go out, but being home alone gets lonely. Yeah...I'm glad it's almost over. Jason thinks with enough help he might be finished late this month or early September. His contract end date is at the end of September so one way or another he's almost finished. There are 2 contracts available for next year, and he's still trying to decide how much he might want either one of them. Those numbers are due at the end of the month.

Last weekend I managed to keep Jason home for Aubrey (Baxter) and Jason Jones's wedding. It was a fun day seeing all the family, and for a day in August the weather was very nice. Not being good at remembering to use my camera sometimes, we only took six pictures all day, however here are my favorite two.

                (Aubrey and Jason exiting the Timp Temple 8.7.10)   ('das boot' with wedding outfit)

As demonstrated by the second picture, my fight to avoid 'das boot' was futile. I have another week to wear it before we decide if I can handle a tennis shoe again. The good news is the swelling has almost disappeared and the soreness is gone. Now I'm just worried the first day I'm back in a tennis shoe it will come back. I sure hope not...I'm sort of sick of this thing (although admittedly it looked cute with my dress for Aubrey's wedding.) ;)

Now to the part about putting out fires...What started as covering our front office at work for a 2-day vacation of our office lady has turned into a month of coverage while she is out with a family emergency. The good news is overtime pay...the bad news is that we discovered the office is a total disaster. Outstanding payments, missing receipts, messed up scheduling, mis-charged programs, mathematical mistakes...you name it, she's done it. After almost 3 weeks of fixing I finally felt like I had it under control as of yesterday. The trainers are doing much better with me in the office, and admittedly no one wants her to come back. We're basically putting everything in order, and if she can't keep it together (which I honestly don't think she can), she'll be fired. You know it's pretty bad when clients are asking if she's been fired already. Sheesh. Her return date is August 30th, so wish us luck as it may be a bumpy transition. In other work-related news we tested another amputee sprinter in the lab this month. A kid by the name of Blake Leeper. He's a 20 year old double amputee sprinter and I think you should keep your eyes open for news about him in the next couple of years, the kid is going to be FAST. Amidst our larger than usual amount of drama at work this month, my favorite co-worker Chris just put in his two weeks' notice. I'm happy for him because he's been unhappy here for some time and is taking a great new job, but he will surely be missed.

I think that sums up my month (mostly in pictures). Congrats to Aubrey and Jason, happy belated birthday to Larissa, best wishes to Chris at his new job, and good luck to Melissa and Derek on the baby that will be coming any day now...or perhaps by the time you're reading this will have been born.

Til next month,

S.~

Hello 100!

So today it's supposed to be 100 degrees, goodbye to the rainy June weather we had, and hello to summer in Utah! We've recently realized we actually need to water our lawn again; the new seeding from the spring filled in great, but was getting a bit brown in places.
The past month brought a trip to WI to visit my family, and deliver my old Honda Accord to my parents who purchased it from me. My brother flew out to Utah on Friday, June 25th and we started driving back at 6am on Saturday June 26th. The first day we drove approximately 14 hours before arriving in Omaha, NE. (I made the observation that Nebraska looks much better when you've come from the Wyoming side of the drive eastward, instead of the WI side of the drive westward) While in Nebraska we had the pleasure of listening to the most interesting radio station I've ever found during a road trip. We may just have been weary, but I would describe their variety as "garage sale special"...basically any CD you could purchase for 10cents at a garage sale...that's what they played. I knew every song but couldn't name a single artist! Yay for one-hit-wonders all the way through NE. Getting out of the car in Omaha we were hit with some oppressive humidity--man I don't miss that! We stayed with our friends Sara (Holman) Nash and David Nash and their insanely large cat Zeeba. I've known Sara since high school, and it was really fun visiting with them and getting to know David and Zeeba better. :) David is super-fun, but let me tell you more about Zeeba. (hehehe) Zeeba is the BIGGEST cat I have ever met. Sort of a spoiled boy and oh so large! He lays down to eat which puts him at just the right height for his bowl. I have attached a picture but it really doesn't do him justice. Awesome! (Oh, and that's David in the background)...

After spending a night in Omaha, Jim and I continued driving through Iowa, to where he lives in Dubuque. We had lunch at CULVER'S (woo!) with his girlfriend Jen, and I got to tour Jen's new house. It's super-cute! I wish I had any sort of theme to my decor like Jen does. She really likes a certain genre of antique furniture. If Jim and Jen ever have a house together someday, it will be interesting to see how her sense of taste melds with his dirty clothes on the floor. I left Jim in Dubuque (to follow behind slightly later), and arrived at my parents' house at 6pm. I even stopped to wash the 1,351 miles of bugs off their new (to them) car.

Once in WI I spent the first couple days just kicking around the farm and hanging out. My aunt and uncle from New York were visiting, and luckily our vacations overlapped for a few days. It took me the first two days just to catch up on sleep and feel normal again being out of the car. Wednesday night my old college roommate Katie Bisley ('Biz') drove down from up by Shawano (a little town called Caroline if anyone is familiar), and we had a great visit. Biz actually came down as company for my drive to the airport in Chicago on Thursday to pick up Jason. On the way back we stopped by Larissa's new place that even at 7mos pregnant she is already diligently making cute. Unfortunately Mark was at work, and Dane was with the grandparents, but perhaps next time we'll get to see them all together again. Friday (July 2nd) Jason and I adventured to Noah's Ark (America's Largest Water Park), in Wisconsin Dells, WI. It was the day before 4th of July weekend, but thankfully it was pretty quiet most of the time we were there and neither one of us come home with any serious sunburn. Later that evening, our friends Sarah and Andy Kahler flew up from Dubuque for a quick evening visit to the farm with their two adorable kids. Olivia got to see our dog, a baby calf, cows being milked, and a pasture full of goats. They are still pretty big and intimidating when you're Olivia's size, but I'm guessing she talked all about it for weeks! Little guy Henry was my buddy for the night. Sarah was surprised that he let me carry him all over the farm and was even my little cuddle-bug for a bit. I guess he'd been stuck in a very 'Mom Only' phase, but he sure was my friend for their visit.

Saturday July 3rd was the DeBaets family reunion at my grandparents' house. As is typical of such gatherings there was TONS of great food and lots of catching up with the family. Everyone seemed really happy Jason and I could make it. After proving I'm still no good at horseshoes, we hit up the LaValle fireworks. LaValle is a little town of about 400 people but they put on a heck of a good fireworks show every year. Jason said it rivaled some shows we've seen here in Salt Lake. Although it wasn't the 'smallest town' or 'biggest' fireworks show he had ever attended, Jason thought it was quite possibly the drunkest town event he'd ever been to.

After fireworks we caught up with my old friend Rusty and his now fiance Chica at my uncle's cabin. Congrats again guys, I had to fly ALL the way to WI to see THE ring, but it is beautiful! :) As we were leaving around 1am, my uncle (foot still in walking boot) was preparing to take Chica and Rusty on a moonlit 4-wheeler ride through the woods...some kids just don't grow up. :)

Sunday just as WI got humid, we flew back to Utah, and Monday (July 5th) was a day off from work for unpacking and unwinding. Thank goodness we didn't have to drive all that way back. Whew! What a vacation!

In other news, our garden is HUGE! The peas and lettuce were yummy, but are done now. However the carrots are ready and thankfully (even with the freezing cold spring) the tomatoes look to be producing a bumper crop!

(Woah big garden! 7.16.10)

(bumper crop...at least this plant)

(What's that!?! Our first ripe tomato of the season! Yay!)

This month also brought a bridal shower for Aubrey which I co-hosted with Marion. It was a lot of fun! I did invites, and cute little love-bird shower favors. I also put together a recipe book from all the guests (thanks to everyone who contributed) and it turned out so cute I wished I could have kept it. (Misty--I really want to try those raspberry muffins!)

(Lovebird Favors...after 30 pairs, not as lovely as I originally thought...lol)

On the subject of Misty--she and husband Curtis welcomed Liahona LeFrandt into the family. In case anyone hasn't heard yet Marion is a GRANDMA! I mean this in good humor but I think she's been yelling it from the rooftops she's so excited :) Haven't heard a peep about being a grandpa for Lee, so perhaps that's still settling in. They get to visit Boston in the coming weeks to meet the new granddaughter. In less important news, Jason and I are now Aunt and Uncle for the first time. My experienced friends tell me this mostly means more expensive holidays, but I'm excited nonetheless! Congrats guys!
I was so almost going to end this without a picture of our skunk adventure! While walking along the north side of our house a week ago there was creepy rustling in the window well...and this little guy!! Eeee! Luckily he exited under the cover of darkness via the board ramp we carefully lowered in. I didn't dare get closer to take more pictures because he kept puffing his tail and stomping his feet, which I consider a BAD sign.

Wow that was a big month! No wonder I'm exhausted. Since this blog is so long already, I won't write in length about my ongoing struggles at work, or my trip to the dentist...instead leaving that to your imagination. If anyone is really curious they will just have to ask!

Take care all!

S.~

Rain Rain Go Away!

Apparently I've moved to the desert, where it rains...A LOT! Mind you it's mid-June...average temperatures 'should' be in the 80's and this weekend we had 55 and rainy all weekend (directly to blame for me sleeping all weekend). It's rained every other day for what feels like weeks. This spring the weather sure has been unusual. Cold and rainy. On the bright side this week it looks like it will warm up nicely. It will be a very short feeling summer with temps in the 100's before we know it.

Jason has fully started his weekend hiking and caving adventures. For those of you who don't remember, he has a year-long contract with the Ashley National Forest service to pattern search an area of forest, noting any caves, springs, or other formations as he goes. Since most of the hiking can only be done in summer due to snow-cover in the winter he's now reached the ideal hiking season. Since a lot of the area he'll be in doesn't have cellphone reception we purchased a fun new toy: the Spot 2 Satellite Messenger. Basically it's a GPS with the capability to send pre-programmed messages to let me know he's OK. It also has an SOS feature in case there's an emergency and a tracking feature so I can watch where they're hiking from the comfort of my cool living room. It should be handy, and take a weight off my-and the other wives-minds when he's out of cellphone reception for 3-4 days at a time. This week he's starting a part-time schedule at Fidelity working Mon-Weds, which will allow him to make the 3-4 hour drive out to the forest and be able to stay for more than a day at a time. I'm a bit jealous, as I am still committed to working full-time hours at my job...partly for the money, and partly to put him back on my health insurance. At least we still have that option.

In brighter news our garden is HUGE! If anyone in Utah would like lettuce we have extra to spare. We have a few baby tomatoes and I should be eating fresh peas later this week. I have realized there are a few things I planted a lot of, but don't really anticipate eating that much of. Later this year we will probably also have an abundance of parsnips, tomatoes, and kohlrabi to deal with/share. Jason did a massive weeding job the other day which I documented for all of you. There are TONS more pictures of lawn and garden pictures on Facebook for anyone who cares to look. They are in an album called 'Lawn and Garden 2010'.

'Weeder-Monkey'

The peonies exploded!

The roses are also doing quite nicely.

I started out thinking not much has happened this month and I am now realizing I had oral surgery since my last post! It went exceptionally well. My appointment was on a Friday at 8:30am and we were home by around 10am. The extraction was a cinch given that my baby tooth only had nubs for roots (see pictures below). Additionally the post implant went fine and for most of the weekend it just felt like I'd taken a punch in the jaw. Nothing 800mg of ibuprofen and a bag of frozen peas couldn't fix. After one bout of yakking from the anesthesia while Jason was attempting to nap, I slept it off and was good to go to dinner later than same evening! As Heather can attest I had a bit of a speech impediment at her birthday dinner, but managed the mashed potatoes and fried rice quite efficiently. A week later Jason helped me remove the stitches. Mind you there were only two stitches but I only got lightheaded once! Now the post/anchor heals in for a few months and sometime in September I will once again have a tooth. Yay! After dreading this procedure for about 15 years it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought.

Poor Rootless Baby Tooth!

The same weekend as my oral surgery I bought a new (to me) car! I am now the proud owner of a 2008 Honda CR-V and my parents are the proud owners of my 2001 Honda Accord. My parents' car is dying and I had offered to sell them my accord if they were interested. The way timing worked out we found a great deal on this CR-V and test drove it the evening before my oral surgery. It was delivered to my house the very next night (same day as my surgery). It sure took my mind off my sore mouth for the better part of the weekend.

My new ride. Please don't call it a 'kid-hauler'.

Delivery of the Accord to WI will happen in two weeks which brings me to my next announcement: I will be in WI from June 28th-July 4th. My brother is flying out to Utah and we will start driving back Saturday June 26th. Jason will be flying in on July 1st just in time for the DeBaets family reunion on July 3rd. July 4th we will both be flying back to Utah, and taking the 5th to recover before heading back to work. I've talked to quite of a few people about catching up while we are visiting, and although I won't be up for too much more driving this time around, we would take any extras for the family reunion picnic with an RSVP. :) If anyone will be in Reedsburg for the 4th of July weekend maybe we could do lunch/dinner the 2nd or 3rd.

I think that's all for this month once again.

Congrats to Aubrey and Jason on their engagement and upcoming wedding this August!

Take Care!

S.~

May Flowers...I hope...

This month Jason went on a school trip to Cambodia and Singapore. It took me a few days to adjust to having him gone, and then a few days to adjust to having him back. It seems like he had a good time. When he finishes his entry for the monthly cousin blog we submit I'll post it on here. :) Kiki was my cuddle-buddy during his trip. It's funny how animals seem to know when you need company.

The spring has been going by quickly. We ran out of room (and potting containers) in the basement and ended up planting out our heirloom tomatoes shortly before Jason left (April 27th). Then while he was gone we had the most miserable cold weather you could imagine (at least for garden plants). My mother had told me "marigolds are hearty, that's why kindergardeners plant them"...and I found out that when you freeze them really good they curl up and die like you took a flame-thrower to them. My heirloom tomatoes were covered, but still look very abused. I only killed one, but it was a traumatic event since they are Jason's babies and I was doing my best to protect them from the elements while he was gone. I think the remaining group (12 of them) will manage to survive and thankfully the weather will be improving this week. I am including a picture of the sheltered basement tomatoes which were given out to Lee and Marion, and Garth and Maydene, along with a few of my co-workers (Laurie, Kristi, and Theresa) and look much better than the partially stunted outside crop I tortured. (The shoe in the following picture is a size reference)

Tomatoes (5.6.2010)

I have also been working on a few flowerbeds outdoors to spruce them up a bit. This is one of the back flowerbeds with the replacement marigolds already in. I plan to plant out some more things this weekend so next month there will be more new pictures. :)

Next week (the 21st) I have oral surgery to have a dental implant started. Long story short I still have a baby tooth that never had an adult tooth to replace it. After more than 26 years of valuable service this little guy is getting sort of bite-sensitive so it's time to get him out. The first step is taking out the baby-tooth and putting a post in my jaw. For about 4 months I will be missing a tooth...mostly I want to be like my daddy :) (For anyone who doesn't know he's been having some dental issues and is a few marbles....errrr....teeth short of a full set right now). In the meantime I've been joking about how I'm "getting an implant...that's right...just one".

In other news, work has been crummy and Jason and I both want knew jobs. Spring/summer fever is not helping me finish school and getting that done is still on my mind. That's all I have to say about that.

This past weekend I attended the wedding of Katie (Hamblin) and Weston Baxter (Baxter-cousins). Congrats to both of them! It gave me time to think: It was a year ago this weekend Jason and I got married. How quickly time does pass!

I hope you are all doing well. Be in touch!

S.~

April Showers!

Despite the wet and crazy weather we've had these past few weeks, this month has been all about gardening. I will include lots of pictures at the end of all this. I cleaned out all of our flowerbeds which involved weeding out about a trash barrel full of grape hyacinth plants and bulbs (not exaggerating). Yuck! I also planted some begonias, a peony, some violas and pansies, some dahlias (including one named "Mr. Optimist"...which Jason found funny), bleeding hearts, columbine, hostas, and lily of the valley. My bleeding heart and columbine from last year are also survived the winter as well as two anemone plants I thought had died right after I planted them. If I'm lucky the snapdragons will also re-emerge like they did last year. My goal is to have lots of perennials that will continue to do well. (I will take suggestions!) Inside we've set up quite the grow operation. Our tomatoes look amazing, although we are met with the task of trying to "harden" them off so they survive outside. Interestingly enough all the 'how to' sites tell you it's pertinent to harden off seedlings that you start indoors, however no one gives you specific instructions on how to do this. I've also got marigolds that are looking pretty beefy (I noticed today one has a bloom started), some sunflowers I started way too early, three varieties of zinnia, snapdragons, coneflowers, and a couple of delphinium. Some of the seeds I started inside this year were a bit of an experiment just to see how they would start and transplant. So far the marigolds, zinnia, and tomatoes look promising...though some of the others are just too small to tell yet.

In other news, Jason is getting prepared to go to Cambodia/Singapore for 10 days, after which at least one of us will be done with grad school! Work for both of us has been busy--Jason is working mandatory overtime as part of tax season, and I have been working some Saturdays to help a fellow co-worker/student collect her thesis data.

Congrats to Weston and Katie on their wedding coming up very soon! Good luck to Misty and Curtis as they soon start their new adventure in Boston. Congrats also to Carrie and Jesse on the upcoming family addition later this year!

And now…the pictures…

Lawn Seeing Before (Last Fall)

Lawn Seeing After (This Spring)

Baby Tomatoes (3.26.10)

Bigger Tomatoes (4.14.10)

Our newest flowerbed (will get more interesting in upcoming months)

Sure Signs of Spring!!

Take Care Everyone!

S.~

The art of procrastination

I would like to open by saying I've had a wonderful month since my thesis research proposal, during which I have not so much as looked at my thesis project. Now that my confession is out of the way, here's what I have been up to.
Mid-February Jason and I welcomed a new dishwasher and oven into our home. My mom says you know you're getting old when things like new appliances are exciting...which they were....so I must be old. This is one of my favorite pictures of the removal of the old appliances...as you can see, Kiki was very helpful in making sure Jason did things correctly.

Also exciting this month is that we've been planting a garden and digging in the flowerbeds. Other than having a sore back, I find digging in the flowerbeds very therapeutic. This is the first year I have aggressively attended to the flowerbeds. The grape hyacinth has become the bane of my existence. They had become so prolific they were choking out other plants, and not allowing me to plant new ones. So over the course of the past week, my gardening gloves, spade, and 5-gallon bucket have sifted through the dirt and removed thousands of the little bulby buggers. It's been rewarding, although now I see grape hyacinth bulbs in my sleep. On the bright side, I have planted another peony, relocated some hen'n'chicks, planted some hostas, several begonias, columbine, lily of the valley, bleeding hearts, and violas. Most of them are still in seed or bulb form, but hopefully I'll have pretty little plants in the next month. Most of them will also be perennial, so less work next year (I hope). I will include pictures in my next entry. Its hard to appreciate without knowing how much garbage I've cleaned out. Little plants will be more impressive. Jason has also assembled quite the grow-light set-up in the basement and has been babying some heirloom tomatoes. When the time comes we will probably have some extra plants if anyone would like to adopt one. So far the garden will have peas, carrots, parsnips, kohlrabi, lettuce, and tomatoes. We'd also like to try some kind of melon. 

Jason has gotten out on his first caving trip of the year and is gearing up for his trip to Cambodia for school. He'll be done in early May no matter what! Yay! I will be done as soon as I get my act together and stop gardening. Hmmm...gardening is way more fun that school.

Work has been super-busy. I'm helping a co-worker collect data she will use for her thesis project and we've been working some 10-hour Saturdays in order to get kids in when they don't have school. Keeps me busy cleaning data during the week. I'm a bit behind right now, but it's good job security.

I'm back on the wagon and going to the gym. Other than soreness which seems almost constant, it's been great. I even have gained a workout buddy or two in my co-worker Rebecca, and my former training client Jane. Jane...if you're reading this...you're my new favorite person. Kidding aside, Jane is one of the most dedicated almost-50-year old workout clients I've ever had. She also has a wealth of information on gardening which has been very useful this time of year.

The birdfeeder from my brother has also caught on. I've had Juncos, house finches, goldfinches, a woodpecker or two, chickadees, and a pair of collared doves.  Since I can't tell which dove is the girl and which is a boy, I've decided they're probably a gay couple. I've named the doves Bert and Ernie. Bert is quite obviously the one in the front of this picture. :) I'm also feeding more sparrows and starlings than I'd like to admit.

                                                                                                

As always, here's my current favorite picture of Kiki. *smile*

I hope you are all doing very well. Thanks to Melissa for visiting me in Utah! Congrats to Russ and Chica on their engagement and Congrats to Scott and Andria on their second little one coming this fall!

Take Care,

S.~

Weeeee!!

After a long time without a post I am long past due for an update...so better late than never...

December:

(Baxter Christmas at the Ranch)

The semester wrapped up well and Christmas was great! I spent lots of time making ornaments to put in my Christmas cards. I think I ended up making about 75 snowflakes, which was more ambitious than I had planned on being. Jason and I got to spend some much-needed time away from work with family here in Salt Lake. More specifically we made two trips to Logan, to spend Christmas eve and Christmas day with the grandparents and family there, and then another trip the following week for the Simon/Baxter/Russak cousin Christmas. My homemade fudge was a big hit with everyone. What a good time! Even my Christmas gifts were well received...what a great way to end the year!

(Christmas card Ornaments)

("Hey guys...where are you going?")

January:

January started off with a trip to WI to celebrate a late Christmas with WI friends and family. Marion, Lee and Jeremiah happily accepted babysitting duties for Kiki (well...at least Jeremiah and Marion happily accepted...Lee tolerated). We flew out from Salt Lake on January 6th, which proved to be lucky because January 7th my parents got 8" of fresh snow and O'hare airport cancelled several hundred flights. So we spent our first day in WI watching it snow. It was Jason's first trip to the Midwest during the winter and the weather didn't dissapoint...8" of snow followed by high temperatures in the single digits for most of the week...luckily it wasn't windy...so it could have been worse.

(View from my parents' front picture window)

(Birdfeeder on my parents' back porch)

On the 8th we drove to Dubuque, IA to visit our friends Sarah and Andy, see their new house, and meet their new baby Henry. Jason got to spend some quality time with "the baby in charge" as he used to call her...who isn't so much of a baby anymore. Jason and Olivia got to play in the basement with toys and Olivia even convinced Jason to show off his dancing skills while Sarah and I visited upstairs. We were also in Dubuque to visit my brother, see his new house, and meet his girlfriend Jen for the first time. (Seems like a pattern in Dubuqe doesn't it?) He made us dinner which was really fun. On Saturday (the 9th) we drove once again, this time to the Twin Cities to meet our friends Melissa and Derek for lunch, although we didn't get to see their house, we did find out they are expecting a little one of their own. So maybe next time we're in the twin cities we'll see their new house and meet their new little one like we did while visiting Dubuqe! We were also fortunate that our WI vacation happened to be the same weekend my old college roommate Leah was getting married in the Twin Cities. So after our lunch with Melissa and Derek we went to the wedding reception of Leah and Chad. It was beautiful, and I'm still a little jealous of their January honeymoon in Hawaii. ;) The next day on Sunday the 12th we celebrated Christmas with the DeBaets side of the family. Jason got his first experience watching a Packer game IN WI. Needless to say there was quite a bit more noise than he's used to when he watches them here with me. Monday was a day to pack and regroup. We also took a road trip with my dad to visit my great grandma myers and our neighbor Valera Schuck in the nursing home. Monday evening we visited with my friends Rusty and Chica and got a tour of their new house. Tuesday the 12th it was time to head back to Chicago to fly back home. On our way we had lunch with our friend Larissa and baby Dane. She made us some excellent soup, and we got to see the amazing painting and decorating job she did on her apartment. We didn't know it at the time, but have since learned she's expecting baby Anderson #2 early this fall. What a very full and fun trip we had!

(Sunrise from my parents' porch the day we flew back)

Now that I think of it...cousins Ben and Melanie here in Utah also just bought a new house this past week that we will see soon, and Melanie has a baby due on the 14th...new houses and babies all around! So congrats to everyone on the new houses, new babies, and new marriages...well done!

Once I returned to Utah, the reality (and urgency) of school set it. I found myself with less time than I had planned on to get my thesis research proposal written and submitted. I scrambled and set up a committee meeting (*gulp*) which I've been somehow avoiding for months. The writing and preparing process left me sleeping badly, eating little, and waking up stressed out each morning. I did not enjoy it and either did the folks (namely Jason and my mom) who had to deal with me stressing, crying, and generally feeling crappy for a month. The good news is, that my thesis research proposal was officially over at 4pm today. So another small milestone has been accomplished. It went really well. My rehearsals in front of the cat paid off and my 20 minute speech was 20 minutes and 23 seconds long. The question/answer session that followed from my committee went well and I left feeling relieved and a little more confident about my project. Thank goodness! Thanks also to everyone who put up with me complaining, crying, being unproductive, cranky, posting dismal facebook status updates, inviting myself over to study, and turning down offers for hanging out over the past month. The bright news is that part of the project is over. I now need to finish analyzing my data and do a TON of writing before I defend my thesis (hopefully sometime early summer).

This weekend the plan is to relax. Thesis research proposal is done, the Olympics are starting soon, and it's Valentine's day! Jason and I are planning to go bowling with some friends this weekend. Monday we have off of work and are going to go for a couple's massage and out to dinner. The massage is my Valentine's gift to me....I mean Jason ;). Should be fun.

I think that's about all. I know I've probably missed a few things as it has been a very busy couple of months. Thanks for following along and continuing to put up with me and be supportive.

S.~