When I was 19 I worked at a summer youth hostel in Grande Prairie Alberta. One night a traveling yoga instructor showed up with her backpack and yoga mat. (Unbelievably - her job as well as mine was funded by the federal government!) She showed me some cool yoga moves and I remember thinking some day I'll do that. Well someday didn't happen until a couple years ago when I found myself propelled to the door of our local yoga studio. I showed up in non fashion nonlululemon pants and Tshirt and put myself in the very back row.

Two years later I find that I can't go a week without a yoga class...

Home Stretch of the semester

So I realized I have just 7 more days of classes and then final exams. It should be an interesting stretch. My roommates have been playing this video game called Call of Duty: Black Ops, I realized this videogame made $360 million in just one day which is pretty crazy. Anyway, it hasn't been a distraction for me so far and hopefully I can close out the semester.

Snowfall

So I realized I have a streak of four flights now where I have stepped off the plane to walk around in snow. It all started of course when I walked off the plane when we landed in Edmonton, Alberta. This really should not be much of a surprise. The return flight back to Salt Lake City also had some snow (albeit it was much less than the amount of snow in Edmonton) But that still makes the streak at two. Then leaving from Salt Lake City to Seattle, I got caught in a snow blizzard, but I still made it out of Salt Lake City, only when I got off the plane in Seattle there was a ton of snow, that makes the streak three. Then flying back from Seattle to Salt Lake, we landed while it was snowing, making the streak four. I wonder if I can get the streak to five when I fly back to Seattle after finals are over. By the way when I say we I mean Rachel and I.

First tobaganning run

It was certainly Ben's first time down the hill when we went out last weekend but I don't think this was Oliver's first time tobagganing - you wouldn't have thought so either way because he was zipping down the hill on his own and begging to have us aim him over the bumps when we pushed him down.

winter vacation in Edmonton

Thanks to the generosity of Char's mom and her offer to take the boys for three days, Char and I had a long restful break last week and were able to spend some time on our own. The days went by quickly and due to some illness on our part during the same time unfortunately, we really only had one day to explore Edmonton. But on that day we made the most of it and explored downtown Edmonton on foot. And yes if you can believe it, we enjoyed a winter's day on foot in Edmonton (luckily it was only about -8 C) checking out the Huddlezone they set up on Churchill Square for the Grey Cup celebrations, wandering around Chinatown amazed by all kinds of interesting (and abominable) food and animals displayed in the windows, funky furniture stores, the city centre mall and the extraordinary view of the River Valley dusted with snow. It was the first chance we had to take a step back and explore downtown Edmonton by foot and hoping it will be the first of many such opportunities to come.

I'm on active duty

I slept and dreamt that life was Joy
I woke and saw that life was Duty
I acted, and behold, Duty was Joy

- Rabindranath Tagore

During my undergrad I chose quite a few poli sci classes that dealt with international development. I was fascinated with underdevelopment - why some countries were so poor while others were so wealthy. I really loved learning about this and loved meeting other students who were equally concerned with international social and economic issues. I remember one guy named Mitchell who wanted to farm onions in India when he finished his degree because he was disgusted with our greedy, indulgent North American capitalist system. His parents once returned from a vacation in Mexico and when they went to show him their pictures he mocked "That isn't Mexico! You guys didn't go to MEXICO, you went to some American resort that doesn't even come close to representing what real life in Mexico is....." He was passionate.
I too wanted to make a difference and my interest in humanitarian work grew....but then my view kind of shifted. At the end of my degree, after all I had read and heard my conclusion was this: The world doesn't need big heros, the world needs good mothers and good fathers. People who live decent lives and serve their immediate communities and their immediate neighbours. I'm not saying humanitarian work isn't important, I just really think there would be so much less of it to do if every one lived the gospel. I gave up my dream of being a Mother Theresa for being a Mom and I genuinely feel that I'm making a difference as well.

End of an Era

NOSTALGIA. I'm having an introspective moment looking back in time.

Melissa turned 13 in 1990 and Rachel turns 20 on Dec. 5. That's 20.5 years of life with at least one teenager. Now - the end of an era. No more crazy, chaotic, insane, creative, hormonally fueled energy. Unfortunately that means full steam ahead for the blahs. End of an era - sure gonna miss it.

So, everybody and their pets want to know what's been happening with Lindsay and myself over the past two weeks. Well, like all good storytellers, we're not going to tell you in just one fell swoop. So we'll start off with the first part: getting to Edmonton. Due to Air Canada scheduling, we had a six hour layover in Vancouver. So since Aaron is also in Vancouver, we decided to get lunch together.


We started off with a nice walk around the area next to a marina with a scenic view of Vancouver. It was a pleasant introduction to this part of Canada.

Aaron treated us to some nice sushi at a place he recommended. It was yummy! See below:

Next up: Edmonton, the first phase.

Fond Memories of Hiking

So having to slave away on some big papers due this week and next week I've been thinking about the blissful memories of summer. LA was great and it was fun to get to Yosemite but I think I had the most fun trip wise anyway when I was back in the good ol Rocky Mountains. I had three weekends between coming back from LA and the start of school and I used them well. First was going to do Northover Ridge in Kananaskis, second was doing the Classic Trail to Berg Lake and Snowbird Pass on Mount Robson and then lastly and probably the toughest overall was scrambling Mount Temple which is something I've wanted to do for a couple of years now. Peter and Uncle Jim joined me and my friend Ed and it was a lot of fun. I've included a few pictures for your amusement ........ I'm also already looking at some trips that I want to do in the Rockies and maybe in Washington as well. Ahhhhhh the mountains.

Nephews

So Lindsays wedding was so much fun. It was great to see Lindsay and Spencer so happy. Among other things I enjoyed seeing the LA nephews again. Ian and Melissa have taught them well because luckily they all still remembered who I was. It is tough to match their energy and excitement to play.

One of my favorite moments which I unfortunately was not able to get on camera was, during the dance, when Jack kept playing and running away with a little toy soccer ball that Oliver really wanted. Oliver would chase him and chase him and politely (and then sometimes not so politely) try to take the ball from Jack who was not willing to share. In one such chase Jack came running towards me with his arms open so as to avoid his pursuer. I scooped him up and asked him if he would be willing to give his ball to Oliver he looked like he was thinking about it when his eyes lit up a little bit and he pointed and said "there's a ball" implying that Oliver should get that ball. I turned around to see what he was pointing at as I noticed the giant silver disco ball that the DJ had set up for the dance. I turned back around to face Jack now smiling and had a good hard laugh. Luckily the send off of the bride and groom began soon afterwards and the soccer ball was forgotten. I've included a picture of the LA nephews from the summer that I took but will try to add another one soon that shows Caleb and Julian's new cool surfer dude cuts and Jack and Christian's expanding curly locks.

Thank you!

We had such a great time at the wedding! It was really wonderful to see everyone and I'm so happy everything went well. Thanks for organizing the child care at the event- it was nice the kids had some things to do there. Caleb and Julian were really cutting a rug, wish I had my video camera. Looking forward to seeing the photos and a great big fat congratulations to Lindsay and Spencer!! xox

Eat, Drink, Edmonton

It was a beautiful wedding. Congratulations to Lindsay and Spencer! You two make a great couple. I also read an article featuring a food blog (which I'm kind of a nerd for) on Edmonton. Worth checking out for you locals.

http://onlyhereforthefood.ca/

What I would have belted out if I had been asked to participate in the wedding program

Congrats again you guys, it was a beautiful wedding!!!!!

hellos and goodbyes

It's been a fun time in the singles wards but I am so excited for the next phase. This sunday was a neat closure for me. Last sunday I got up to bear my testimony with the others getting married this month but we ran out of time! We were 10 minutes over so the Bishop drew the line. Well... this week the 2nd and final speaker ended with 10 minutes left. Lo and behold who is invited to bear their testimony? I was thankful for the opportunity and talked of my love for the Savior, how grateful I am for Spencer, how he's so great, and just mostly about the Lord's incredible way of guiding my life. If was really neat to be able to share with the ward and say goodbye in a sense. And HELLO in another!

Bridal Shower part 2

Mom and her friends showered me with Bridal gifts when I was in Seattle for a little visit last week! It was really fun! They did such a great job with fun activities and yummy food. The hit was when I told the story of Spencer's proposal using the story board they provided, where people put it in the order they thought the story happened! Also, they told me they had asked Spencer certain questions (without me knowing.) He had answered them, and now it was my turn to answer and they would then read his answers, comparing the two! It was quite a blast. Luckily we passed. The pics show some of the smiles and fun- You'll see I have a fun hat on! It's made from all the bows taken off the gifts from everyone! Jennifer has a real knack for assembling these hats- she did a smashing job :) Shannon was in charge of the group gift and everyone was very generous! It was a great event- I was impressed with it all! Thanks guys -

CHA CHA CHA!

This semester I am taking Social Dance 180, basically the most basic ballroom dance class there is at BYU. It's a lot of fun! I have really been enjoying it, and I hope to take a few more dance classes while I'm here. This morning, I got to compete in DanceSport, which is a huge event at BYU because there are hundreds of ballroom dancers at all different levels who compete. Me and my partner Lonnie danced in the Chacha competition and made it to the 5th round! I think there are about 8 rounds total or something so we were proud of ourselves. Neither of us consider ourselves very coordinated dancers so we were definitely not expecting to make it that far haha. It really was a lot of fun to dance 5 rounds and check on the TV screen if we had made it to the next one. We would come up with little routines right before we danced a round to make sure we would know what to do. Lonnie's roommate was watching us too and even got a couple video clips on his phone so maybe he'll post them somewhere. I guess my dancing career is launched now haha so I hope to do something similar in the future! Here's a couple pictures from today.

Our Big Fat Edmonton Wedding!

Eight days to the big day. I'm not exactly sure how to describe my role in the wedding event of the year - a combination of wedding planner, wedding consultant, momzilla, sherpa, whatever?

But I can tell you that despite all the hours of time and energy spent in phone calls and texts and emails and test-tasting cupcakes and visiting bridal gown shops and florist and paper and craft stores and venues and DJ and rental places and carting up supplies on the plane and dejunking the Belgravia house for our wedding guests - that I actually LOVE all this kind of stuff. So thanks Linds and Spencer! And from what I've seen about how good you are at planning your wedding its easy to see that your marriage will be a big fat success...

Building a Blog

As I've been getting more interested in my parenting project I've really been using my blog as a tool to share my ideas, process what I'm learning and get feedback, thoughts, and ideas from other people. Well, the feedback and comments haven't been has been on the light side and I'm not sure what to do to increase it! I've tried asking questions, having giveaways, etc. I guess it's all helping, but I'm surprised at how much work blogging is. I just found out that there's a huge, three day conference in TN coming up for mom bloggers with hundreds of attendees on how to build your blog! Imagine my surprise- you mean there's a whole strategy behind this? Since my goal is to be a better parent and not a better blogger I won't be attending, but it's been interesting to learn about all this!
I also just got published on another kid website:  Although, unfortunately, still no feedback!! (this is not a hint, by the way, just a vent)

White Wedding?

One week to go until the big wedding. Imagine my surprise when I looked out and saw this.

SNOW!!!!! The return of winter to the true north.

All you Californians and Utahns better brace yourselves.

Actually if you really want to know the snow has melted and it has turned mild again. So far El Nino is working.

And even if it does snow next weekend it'll still be nice. After all it will be Lindsay and Spencer's wedding.

Tick Tock Tick Tock

So there's this clock that is in our bathroom and after all the shouting, cooking, cheering, talking etc. finally dies down in the evening and the stillness of the night sets in the clock seems to come alive or gain strength. As the hours of the late evening and early morning pass by, the clock seems to get louder and louder until finally someone stirs and you hear the creaking tiles or steps as a living creature wakes up usually around 7:30. The night however belongs to the clock. The tick-tocking reverberates through the hall and when I am ,before I go to sleep usually around 12:00 or 12:30, I can hear it quite clearly. It's just a cheap hunka but it still makes that nice tick tock tick tock loudly.

For some reason last night I woke up at about 3:30 and this clock was just booming I had never heard it so loudly before. As I was sitting in silence, I could almost hear the mechanical gears shifting and crunching to move the arms; it literally did sound like a metronome in a large empty room with excellent acoustics.

For some reason I got this eerie feeling that everyone of us has a clock that is ticking constantly and that the seconds should not be wasted (kinda like Captain Hook when he hears the tick tock crocidile). I think that the way we spend our time is the most important investment we make. As young people it is essentially the only asset that we have and so the way we spend it really affects our future lives. For some reason hearing this strange clock really made me reflect that I have a limited amount of time and that I need to make the most of it somehow.

Halloween Costumes!

Sorry this post might be a little past due, but I also wanted to put up a Halloween picture! Me and my roommates were characters from the Powerpuff Girls cartoon show, which interestingly enough I have barely ever seen. But it was lots of fun! Emily was Bubbles, Sydney was Blossom, I was Buttercup, (those are the three powerpuff girls)and Beatriz was Princess Morbucks, who is a villain in the show. Compare the two pictures of us and see how we did!

Sorting

So since I'm going to be moving here shortly, that involves packing. Which everybody loves, of course. It does give you an opportunity to go through and decide what's important enough to take with you and what can be gotten rid of. Maybe it's something I should do more often, but for now I'll just take this opportunity and maybe do better going forward. Of course, one doesn't need to move in order to go through and remove the clutter.

The Rotisserie

So I bought a new grill with a rotisserie attachment a couple of weeks ago. I had an opportunity to try it out for the first time on Sunday and I was super happy with it. Meat was tender and juicy and the skin was perfectly crisp and smoky. Best whole bbq chicken I've ever had a hand in making!

Slow Down

One of my favorite songs is Simon & Garfunkel's 59th Street Bridge Song. I'm including a video of it being peformed for your reference:

We live in a world of too many demands and too little time. I think we could all take the advice to "slow down" more often than we do. I'm not talking about lazing around, but taking time to be quiet and still and allow God to speak to us. It is so important and also a pleasure. President Uchtdorf talked on this topic in conference. His talk can be found here

"Let’s be honest; it’s rather easy to be busy. We all can think up a list of tasks that will overwhelm our schedules. Some might even think that their self-worth depends on the length of their to-do list. They flood the open spaces in their time with lists of meetings and minutia—even during times of stress and fatigue. Because they unnecessarily complicate their lives, they often feel increased frustration, diminished joy, and too little sense of meaning in their lives.

It is said that any virtue when taken to an extreme can become a vice. Overscheduling our days would certainly qualify for this. There comes a point where milestones can become millstones and ambitions, albatrosses around our necks.

The wise understand. They resist the temptation to get caught up in the frantic rush of everyday life. They follow the advice “There is more to life than increasing its speed.” In short, they focus on the things that matter most."

You should read the whole talk. Its terrific.