Happy Easter

Easter seemed especially poignant this year, in the midst of so much fear and loss and temporary separation throughout the world.  I was touched to see all the flowers at the cemetery.  A little bit of hope and love, centered on The One who came to make all the wrong things right.  He lives.

Random Thoughts From Home

It occurred to me today (Day 19 - feels like Day 319) of the "stay safe, stay home" chapter we are currently living through, that blogging might be a good outlet for me.  Due to the coronavirus, we are in the midst of a global pandemic.  Words like quarantine, social distance, isolation, and COVID-19 have quickly become part of our culture.  I'm on my third straight week of working from home, church has been cancelled indefinitely, school is out until at least May, and we're asked/mandated to "shelter in place" except for essential work and grocery store shopping.  It is a crazy time and, even a month ago, would have been completely unthinkable. 

Jason was on his yearly Brothers Trip to Las Vegas when things went from "we're hearing a lot about coronavirus on the news - should we be worried?" to "absolutely, completely nuts."  He sent me this eerie picture from a casino.  The Pac-12 basketball games had just been cancelled mid-tournament, March Madness became March Sadness, and the NBA cancelled its season all in the same day.  Jason was alone at the sports desk because, just like that, there were no sports.  It was weird, and unsettling, although things really became real for me that night when Tom Hanks was diagnosed with the virus.  Because if it can happen to Tom Hanks, it can happen to anyone. 

So we spend our time (all our time) at home these days.  I read books.  

This was a surprisingly good one.  Jill Biden is my new favorite.

    

The first few days, Rooney followed me around like (you guessed it) a puppy dog.  It is his dream come true to have me home all the time.  The novelty seems to have worn off some though, and now he spends most of his time pleasantly lounging wherever he pleases and letting me know whenever he'd like a snack.

Jason has been his usual, level-headed self.  He's loved watching the crazies go nuts stocking up on toilet paper.  His work routine for Fed Ex has generally stayed the same, although people seem to be buying more dog food and exercise equipment.  He stays calm and (not surprisingly for anyone who knows us) I keep things interesting by behaving unpredictably from day-to-day.  Sometimes I stick to a strict work-at-home schedule and make nutritious meals  Sometimes I work out on our treadmill (which I've been so grateful for) and spend hours wiping down cupboards and cleaning out the fridge  And then some days it's all I can do to sleep and watch movies and order take-out for Jason to pick up for our dinner.  But all the days I wear pajamas and I've been proving my theory that my now naturally-curly hair really does do something dramatically different every time it air dries on its own.  Fact: It is nice not to have to do my hair and makeup every day. 

It is also super nice to get pictures of my adorable nieces and nephews.

Theo came to visit one day and I loved watching him play tether ball.  I call this picture, "What Could Go Wrong?"  Luckily, he did not smack himself in the head, too hard, with the ball.

Rooney, or my little earthquake buddy, as I now call him (oh yeah - on Wednesday of the first week of my stay-at-home adventure, we had a 5.7 earthquake.  Things fell off the walls, everything was shaking, and I don't think I'll ever forget the sound).  Anyway, Rooney has been loving this little bunny we got from an Arctic Circle kids meal on a much-needed milkshake run.  

One last thought.  The weirdest thing for me is that we don't know when the "urgent/isolation" phase of the pandemic will end, so for now we are home indefinitely.  I have learned that puzzles are not a great substitute for work friends when you need a little break, but they do help.  And I've been grateful every day for a comfortable house with lots of nice things and that I genuinely like the people who live here (which mostly is me, Jason, and the kids).  So we'll keep on taking one day at a time and see what adventure is next.

Summertime Goals

This year, I've been trying to do some of the things I always say I'm going to do, but never actually do.  For example, I bought a new pair of back-up glasses, which I've been needing to do since, oh, let's see, college.  One of the things on the list was to take the kids to a demolition derby.

The demolition derby was my first trip to the Utah State Fair, which I felt bad about, until Jason told me he'd lived in Utah his whole life and never been to the fair.  So technically we did two things we really should have been meaning to do - 1) a demolition derby and 2) the state fair.  The parking situation was terrible, but after we survived that, we had a great time.  Everyone picked "their car" at the beginning of each round, which I'd highly recommend.  It really adds to the excitement.  It's crazy how quickly you can get attached to the little orange car - and how awful I was at picking winners.

Another thing on my summer list (which has been on the list for two years at least) we didn't get to until fall, but it was well worth the wait.  We made the hike up to Donut Falls on a perfect autumn day.

I'm not going to lie.  I don't love hiking (I swear the change in elevation triggers migraines) but for some reason I had it in my mind that we were going to hike Donut Falls.  (I think I saw it on Facebook.)  So we did.  And it was beautiful, and a good amount of challenging for me, and it was great to cross it off the list.

Yep, I'm wearing a Christmas shirt.  It was a very impromptu "come as you are" hike.  

The highlight was that the kids quickly recognized the trailhead as a spot where they took pictures with their Dad when they were little.  So we had fun trying to recreate one of my favorite old photos, which still sits on our fireplace mantle.  

It turned out cute.  Oh, and we did make it to the water falls.

Although apparently I was huffing and puffing and didn't take pictures.  

Oh well.  I'm definitely still counting it.

Quick Idaho Trip

When your sister has a starring role in an interactive murder mystery/high school reunion dinner theater, you call your best friends from high school at the last minute and invite them to drive a couple of hours to meet you for the show.  Unfortunately, Ashlee was in charge of the elementary school carnival that night -or so she says- but Sara was able to make herself available.

Which turned out especially great for me, because Sara (and Tay and everyone else besides me) caught on when we got there that the whole thing was set up like a high school reunion and that the lady taking tickets didn't ACTUALLY think she'd been in my science class 20 years ago.  Even better - Sara got to represent our table as a former cheerleader and I never ended up on stage.  Yay hurray!  Great job, Biz.  I really didn't see the ending coming. 

The next day, we ate donuts for breakfast, made chocolate chip cookies, had fried chicken for lunch, and then went to Bryce's flag football game (for the exercise).

It was a pretty quick trip - but also pretty great.

Downtown - Everything's Waiting for You

One Saturday in September, we met Taylor's family and my Dad downtown to celebrate Heather's birthday at the Cheesecake Factory, where I discovered how much I like their brunch menu.  So now I love their cheesecake AND actual meals there - life might never be the same.

Something else that's not the same as it used to be?

Waiting for the bus!

(Technically, we were waiting for Trax. But you get the idea.)

The renovation of the Salt Lake Temple is scheduled to begin soon.  I keep lamenting how few pictures there will be of Temple Square so people can remember "how it used to be."  Which I find to be hilarious.  Maybe you have to have worked on Temple Square during the cell phone era (or even been to one summer wedding) to realize just how many billions of pictures are taken there every day.  Trust me on this one.  My joke is funny and I will  keep saying it until someone appreciates it.. 

Something else I think is funny is how many people assume that this is a picture of Mickey and Dahlia meeting a General Authority (ahem - Elder Ballard - ahem) but really it was a random senior missionary and I just knew how uncomfortable the kids were in this moment and had to capture it.

Loving the view from the 10th floor of the Joseph Smith Building.

Also loving that we ran into Jason's brother Tyson and his family 

while we were downtown with my family.  

Ironically, they were there for a baptism photo shoot with their photographer - Jason's sister Megan.  

Photo shoot - on Temple Square - get it.

But so glad we got to snap this gem with cousins while we were there.

And finished off the day at City Creek so Mickey could get this picture with 

THE LOUIS VUITTON SIGN.  

Jason loves to annoy Mick by pronouncing it Louise Vuitton or (worse) Old Louie.  

Which is another thing that never gets old to me.  We're so funny!

New Life Motto

I can't even put into words how much I love this.  I need one for my house, my office, my car, and an extra just in case I think of somewhere else I want one.

Home Sweet Home - Seattle Edition

Labor Day Weekend, Dad and Biz and I made a quick trip to Seattle 

to see Patsy and Hal.

Of course, we had Ivar's.

And I made roast for Sunday dinner.

We did some of this.

(If you want to take a picture of Patsy, she has to not know you're doing it.

Good thing I'm sneaky like that.)

Also, why can I not get paid to stare at the ocean all my days? 

I'm very good at it.

We drove this promenade, but next time, I'll be needing a slow, ocean stroll at sunset.

Let's go back.