not that i'm counting or anything...

ONLY:

• 5 days till Jonny's fam comes for General Conference :)
• 7 days left of class! (yes, we're skipping a couple here and there)
• 9 days till we go to VISIT our new home
• 12 days till our BBQ, and cousin Tom's show!
• 19 days till our Half-Marathon (yikes)
• 21 days till FINALS week (yikes again)
• 24 days till GRADUATION (woohoo)
• 31 days till we go to Colorado (for my sister's grad. from Nursing school!)

Wow. There's even more excitement to come. (Can you believe it?) Teehee! Stay tuned.

Really.

Tonight, for FHE we went up to the Y parking lot and sat in our car, overlooking the city lights in the valley. We could see across to the lake, and silhouettes of mountains all around as the sun was setting behind them.

We realized...we kinda like this place.

And then we talked about all the things we love about living here, the memories we've made, the things we'll miss when we're gone.

We realized...we really like this place.

Even though, over the past few years, we had our moments ... like everyone else- Complaining about one thing or another. But we know (and now we can admit it) that when we are gone... we'll miss it! And we'll always look back on these times with fondness.
Sentimental, yes. Touching, I know. And its true- really.

I guess we have 2 months to make the most of what time is left.

(And then maybe we'll have to wait 20 years to bring our kids back here for school... and we'll bore them to tears with cheesy stories of when we met and fell in love. I can't wait. :) )

the P word

Alright everyone. It's time.
We are going private.

But we'd love all of you (all 3 of you) who read our blog to keep reading it!
So, please COMMENT ON THIS POST or EMAIL ME so that I can add your name to the list.

(you know, the list that gets you past the bouncer and into the private club. aka. our blog)

Thanks.

We will soon be disappearing from the free/open blogging world. So ACT NOW!

Drumroll Please.................

After a year of researching and planning and testing and applying and waiting and working and praying...

___________________________________________________________________

We have decided where to go to graduate school!

So, you ask, where will we be living for the rest of our lives? (or at least for the next 3-7 years)....

I know lots of you already know, but for those excited readers out there who are finding out for the first time...I want to make this exciting.

Please see the following clues:


(for those who know geography)
(for those who are sports fans)





(for those who like architecture)




ANY GUESSES YET?


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Drumroll Please.....


We are moving HERE!

We are very excited.
Jonny=MS in Electrical Engineering
Mary= MA in Speech-Language Pathology

We have been so blessed with this opportunity. It is a great school!
We can't wait to explore a different part of the country and have this new adventure together. :)

Are you kidding me?

http://fun.mivzakon.co.il/flash/video/2344/2344.html

PLEASE. Watch.This.

Wait for the video to load and then just click the 'play' arrow. (you need to watch at least half of it. its about 6 minutes long)

You will be amazed! I'm not kidding.

I knew there was a reason these are my favorite animal of all time.

(my family sent me this video. i'm not sure where it came from or where it was filmed. but i'd love to go there. so if you figure it out, please let me know)

Welcome Spring!

Welcome Spring!

Photograph: Chris Radburn/PA

We're SO glad you are here.
Please, come in, sit down, stay awhile!

Thank you for coming.
I really mean it.
I appreciate it so much.

Life is just so much happier when you here.
There is a bounce in my step and a smile on my face.
I'd almost forgotten what the sun felt like.

Thank you spring. Thank you for coming.
Thank you for awakening the kid in me, making me feel alive again.
Please, stick around.
We like you.

Have you ever...?

Have you ever wanted to be something you're not?

Today I went to an activity with a bunch of great kids--They all have siblings with special needs. We read a book about an onion who doesn't want to be an onion. He wants to be sweeter, better looking, more desirable. So he tries to be an orange. But in the end, he finds that its terribly uncomfortable to be in someone else's skin. Also, he discovers that in the right light- he shines!
(what is the point of this story? i'm getting to it, i promise.)


I've definitely felt that way before...wishing I was skinnier, or had cuter clothes, or a was a better runner, more talented, more confident, or more artistic....the list goes on. (Not to say that I'm totally unsatisfied with who I am. I'm usually content...but I definitely have those moments of....coveting.)

I was talking to my older and wiser sister about this the other day.
Her family recently got 2 cute Boxers! She has always wished she was a DOG PERSON. She wished that she had those feelings that other people have about dogs, and that she just knew how to take care of them/train them, etc... When she saw other people with their dogs she wished she could do that (have one, love one... not let the drooling and shedding outweigh the satisfaction of their companionship)

Me: "Do you think it's foolish to try?--That you are just NOT a dog person, and you never will be? ...That you are what you are, and you should just be happy with it?"

Her: "No. I look at it as something I have just never tried to cultivate in myself, but if I try, maybe it will come out."

I LOVE YOU GINA!

I think that is a wonderful philosophy. Love being yourself. Find the light in which you can Shine! Be grateful for what you have, things you've been blessed with, and who you are.
But don't write yourself off either! Give yourself a chance to try new things, cultivate new talents, experiment, improve. (life would be boring if we didn't)


I guess my thoughts are best summed up with the words of another older and wiser person:

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

(this "Serenity Prayer" has been accredited to several different sources)

i fell in love again....

with ROOTBEER FLOATS

mmmmm...

we had a little get-together saturday.
just to have these.
they are delicious.
i had forgotten.
shame on me.
i'll have them more often. :)

(we also tried them with cream soda, and raspberry shasta)

Guess what?

Guess what we ordered yesterday??

__________________________________________________________________

Yep. NOW it's for real. Graduation is officially 7 weeks away! I am so excited to graduate with the love of my life. (In our matchy matchy outfits.) It will be awesome.
We can't wait to see our families and party like its 1999.

PS. Any opinions on Class Rings? When I see them all displayed and shiny...I want one. But I can't decide if its worth it, or if I'd even wear it.

Georgia

On the night of Sunday March 1st, 2009-

3,000 people slept in the Atlanta airport.

I was NOT one of them.

Thank goodness....

(I've slept in many an airport. Not a fun activity.)

On Thursday Feb 26, my alarm went off at 5 am. Time to fly to Georgia. I rolled over and thought, am I really doing this? Am I really flying by myself across the country for 15 minutes? But that little voice in my head kept saying "your destiny awaits you." (or was it..."get up you lazy bum, and don't waste a $350 plane ticket"..?? I'm not sure which.)

So I landed in Atlanta on a sunny afternoon, excited about escaping the Utah winter. My friend Katie (who moved to Atlanta during the summer) picked me up from the airport. And I got to spend the afternoon with these two cute girls!

It was so much fun to hang out with them and I'm so thankful they let me stay at their place, even amidst the chaos of their packing and moving. (I later figured out that my timing coming this particular weekend was actually even WORSE than I thought it was....please read on.)

So Katie drove me around Atlanta, and to my INTERVIEW at Georgia State University on Friday afternoon. It was POURING. (As we ran through the downpour, I thought it was hilarious and beautiful. I sighed and thought, "oh, my first southern rainstorm! how lovely." .....Little did I know that the rain's evil twin would emerge soon.)

And so commenced the 15 minutes. Though the tour of the campus, conversations with students, and writing sample probably took an hour or so, the actual interview was 15 minutes.

I must say I was very impressed with the program, and the awesome urban campus, and I would love to go there. I hope they pick me! I'll find out the first week of April. (though chances are slim... 60 interviews. 20 students will be chosen. yikes.)

And that night I got to hang out with these two:

Natalie and Josh! (Jonny's sister and her husband, who live in Athens) They did an amazing job of showing me around Atlanta, taking me to fun shops, restaurants, and my favorite part: a little blues bar, featuring Lazy Lester. It was probably one of the coolest things I've ever seen/heard in my life.

Saturday Natalie and I had a girls day: (it was still pouring. too bad I did not bring my galoshes)
-pictures of the famous Stone Mountain

-Martin Luther King Jr. birthhouse, memorial and display


-yummy cakes at Cafe Intermezzo

-AND shopping at Atlantic Station!

Even through the constant rain, I was amazed by the huge trees everywhere...they were beautiful.

This seemed to be the fated weekend to visit Georgia, because my Father-in-law was also there for a conference.

So we picked up Jonny’s dad at the airport and went to dinner at an amazing restaurant. Mary Mac’s Tearoom. I ate:

-collard greens

-fried chicken

-grits

-fried green tomatoes

-biscuits and gravy

-fried okra

-cornbread

-baked mac n’ cheese

Holy cow. I discovered that my mouth loves Southern food. Though I can’t say the same for my hips…

We went to the hotel and got ready for bed. And so again, I set my alarm for 5 am, and fell asleep happy. Excited to see Jonny and be home for Sunday lunch. Dreaming of my handsome prince, I slumbered soundly in the hotel room…unaware of the unexpected surprise that brewed in the clouds outside.

We woke up to a drizzly Sunday morning, with clouds that looked determined to start something. Natalie drove me to the airport. Lets just say, it was the first of several trips (bless her heart). Phone calls and standbys and more cancellations, and about 8 different confirmation numbers….That day was consumed with me trying my darndest to LEAVE Atlanta as soon as possible…and everyone else SO excited about the SNOW. The most they’ve had since 1993. Bad timing? Yeah. Definitely.

Delta canceled 300 flights that day.

And 3,000 people slept in the airport. NOT ME. Thank goodness for conferences and kind, generous father-in-laws who have nice hotel rooms right across from Olympic park. And my public transport skills…riding the MARTA was a great adventure.

So Natalie and Josh came back to Atlanta to play, we ate some more good food, watched dad’s presentation, and I took a tour of the CNN center.

Not too bad. I’d miss 2 more days of class for that any day. But I also missed someone else. Like crazy. So by Tuesday night, I was SO ready to get back to snowless Utah. After a 53 hour delay ....

This cute guy:

Picked me up from the airport last night. Mmmmm. Its good to be home.

6 days. For 15 minutes. Wowza!

Thanks Thanks Thanks to everyone who sacrificed and made my extra long stay in Georgia wonderful. :)