Happy Now-April 29

These past few weeks have been a wonderful whirlwind.  Darren and I have been anticipating our move to Arizona with a lot of excitement, and have been blessed to have so many things fall into place recently.  Looking back on the past few weeks, I have been touched by how many little tender mercies Heavenly Father has chosen to put in our path.  Here are my most recent Happy Now 10:

1.  Night-time driver--A couple of weeks ago was Reagan's Spring Break.  Darren requested a couple of days off work that week so that we could drive down to Arizona, take a tour of the law school Darren will be attending (Phoenix School of Law), and do our best to find an apartment and teaching job for me.  Since our time was limited, Darren offered to start driving us down Monday night after he got of work.  He wanted to make it as far as Flagstaff where we planned to spend the night and continue on to Phoenix where I had a teaching interview the next morning.  I don't particularly enjoy driving through the night.  I enjoy a good night's sleep and with an interview the next morning I was worried about being groggy.  Darren, however, made a great effort to make me comfortable on the trip, leaving the backseat clear of luggage so that I could spread out and sleep while he drove into the wee hours of the morning.  As the first of many blessings on this Arizona trip, I am grateful for a husband who was so thoughtful as to make me as comfortable as possible while he did all the work.  We ended up making it to Flagstaff at about 4 a.m., at which point I had already benefited from several hours of restful sleep.

2.  Interview #1--To say I was nervous for my first teaching interview in Phoenix would be quite an understatement.  I had not done interviews for three years and was rehearsing every possible question I could think of with Darren on the last leg of the journey.  How relieved I was when we finally arrived at the school to be so warmly greeted and kindly treated.  I was humbled to receive a job offer at the end of the interview, which I told them I would have to consider.  It was certainly the boost in confidence I needed, and helped me ultimately find the right teaching job after an impromptu interview at the end of our trip.

3.  Phoenix, Arizona--Arizona had not been our first choice for law school locations.  In fact, it was probably third on our list.  I had never been to Arizona and really didn't know what to expect on our visit a few weeks ago.  I was amazed, however, at how much the Phoenix area felt like home as we drove into the city.  Loving very green, wet places, I felt sure that the Arizona desert would not be a good fit for me.  But Phoenix is beautiful.  The city has a beautiful landscape with so many social and cultural things to offer.  I now couldn't be more excited about our future there.

4.  Phoenix School of Law--One of our first appointments while in Phoenix was to take a tour of Darren's law school.  Phoenix School of Law has recently moved into a high-rise building in downtown Phoenix where it occupies the 13th-20th floors.  Our tour guide was a 3L student who had a lot of wonderful insights and advice about attending PSL.  It made both of us, but especially Darren, excited for a future life in the law.

5.  The Good Egg--As is wont for a breakfast-loving duo, Darren and I sought out a yummy breakfast spot in downtown Phoenix on our first morning there.  We succeeded in finding The Good Egg restaurant (where we ate twice) and enjoyed eating outside in the warm AZ spring weather.

6.  Apartment Hunting--Darren and I looked at many, MANY apartments during our few days in Phoenix.  It was a little tricky knowing where to look at first since we wanted to be relatively close to Darren's school but also close to my future job.  As a result, we ended up looking at apartments all over the Phoenix area and its suburbs.  After my first teaching interview on our first morning in Phoenix, we toured a Mark-Taylor apartment complex in northern Phoenix close to that school.  After looking at a few other places, we became more interested in seeing other Mark-Taylor properties.  This at least helped us narrow our search a little.  As I visited schools for interviews or to drop off my resume, we would look for Mark-Taylor rentals in that area.  We fell in love with many.  It was not until our second-to-last day in Phoenix, however, that we decided to visit the Gilbert area.  I had not applied to any schools in Gilbert, but I had been interviewed at schools in nearby Chandler and Mesa.  We visited the Azul Mark-Taylor apartments there in the evening (click here to see what they looked like) and, though they were similar in layout and design to some other Mark-Taylors we had seen, Darren and I agreed that these felt different.  After visiting the apartments, we drove to a nearby outdoor shopping area where we browsed the Barnes and Noble, fell in love with some puppies at the pet store, window shopped at some clothing stores, and saw a movie.  The area was absolutely charming!  I wish I had taken pictures.  We were both feeling great about the Gilbert area that night, but decided to sleep on it.  The next day we visited a few more apartments before returning to look at the Gilbert ones we loved.  A few experiences we had in Gilbert that next day (see the posts below) helped us seal the deal.  We chose an apartment and agreed to become Gilbert residents on June 8!

7.  Gilbert Temple--As we pulled off the freeway in Gilbert on our last day in Arizona, we noticed some construction taking place that we hadn't noticed the evening before.  It didn't take long before we realized that it was the new Gilbert, Arizona temple being built about a 1/2 mile from the apartments we loved.  Darren and I stopped to take some pictures of the temple and a little park (green space!) nearby.  We are so excited to still be so close to a temple!

Gilbert, AZ Temple

Park across the street from the Temple

8.  American Leadership Academy--Leaving the Temple grounds on our way back to the apartments, Darren noticed that a school building shared the lot next to the temple.  It was a public charter elementary school (similar to the school where I am currently teaching) called American Leadership Academy.  We joked about how no school name could be more appropriate for me since Leadership has been the theme in my classroom for the past three years.  I happened to have an extra resume in the car and we decided I had to at least stop in to introduce myself and leave my resume.  I jumped out of the car and walked inside to the school's front office where I happened to meet the school director.  He looked briefly at my resume and started laughing when he realized I was working at Reagan.  He and some other colleagues at the school had lived in Utah and donated money to Reagan when it first opened.  He asked me if I was available for an impromptu interview.  We talked for about a half hour and, having had some interview practice the previous few days, felt blessed to feel so calm and ready to answer his questions.  He finished the interview by asking me if I could come back for the second stage of interviewing to teach a lesson.  When I mentioned that I was leaving Arizona that afternoon, we agreed to have me video tape a lesson in my classroom early the following week and send it to him.  I think I literally floated out of the school.  Darren hadn't been expecting me to be gone so long so he was full of questions.  After so much uncertainty over the past year as to where we would be living and what we would be doing, everything seemed to come together in that moment.  We signed the contract at the Azul Mark-Taylor apartments an hour later.  Even though we did not yet know what would come of the job at ALA, we both felt we were making the right move.

9.  Video-tape Marathon--After returning to Springville, I spent part of Saturday in my classroom preparing for the video-taped lesson I planned to teach on Monday for the ALA job application.  On Monday I was at the school quite late trying to get the video into the right format to leave on my dropbox for ALA's administration to watch.  After a lot of hours and, quite frankly, tears, I accepted the fact that the video was too large to load onto dropbox in its entirety.  Darren, bless his heart, offered to run the flashdrive containing my video to the nearest FedEx store to over-night it to Gilbert.  I e-mailed ALA to let them know it was coming, tried not to worry about it, and hoped for the best.  Two days later, on Wednesday, I received a call from ALA's director saying that he had watched the video and wanted to offer me a teaching position at their school.  Not only that, they wanted to offer me a fifth grade teaching position. As Reagan and ALA teach a very similar curriculum in 5th grade, I was thrilled to realize that I could take many of my pre-made lessons plans with me and help smooth my transition into a new school.  I was SO excited.  I left work immediately to go surprise Darren at his job with the news--we will be living in Gilbert a 1/2 mile from the temple and my new job!

10.  Planning with Darren--In the days since our Arizona trip, Darren and I have done a lot of talking about our future.  We realize that the immediate future will hold many challenges in law school and work.  We can't help but smile every time we talk about what's ahead, however.  We know that even when things seem unclear and difficult, as they have many times over the past year, that things always work out.  We are so grateful for that knowledge.

Happy Now-Easter Weekend

Darren and I returned last night from a very fun Easter weekend.  My dad's  cousins own a winter ranch near Milford, Utah.  Darren and I were invited to spend the weekend with our extended family out at the ranch and had a great time!  I loved being able to spend time with family, enjoy the open space, and see the animals.  Darren was in cowboy heaven. :)

1.  Welcoming Wintches--Darren and I were touched by how welcoming the Wintch side of my family was to us.  I didn't know several of my extended family members on this side of the family, and they had never met Darren, but they welcomed us with open arms and immediately made us feel comfortable and a part of the family.

2.  Wide Open Spaces--I love traveling to big cities that are full of culture and history, but there is something about getting away from everything and being surrounded by nothing but land that is refreshing to the soul.

Me and Darren with some Wintch relatives at the winter ranch.

3.  Cowboy Heaven--Darren's family owns a dry farm in Idaho, and Darren has often talked about how much he would love taking over the farm and making a living from the land.  It was fun for me to watch Darren walk around the ranch this weekend.  He is now totally committed to the idea of owning cattle, in addition to the dogs and horses we have already discussed. :)

These bulls were absolutely massive.  Darren (who also dreams of bull riding one day) actually pet one of them.  Seeing how strong they were with only one metal bar separating us from them, however, I decided to keep a safer distance.

4.  Baby Colt--There were some animals on the farm, however, that completely won me over.  It is calving season, so there were several baby calves at the ranch for us to see--they are much more endearing than the big bulls.  The highlight for me, however, was being able to see a baby colt that had been born two days before our arrival.  It's mother was very protective and kept the baby out of our eyeshot for most of the day, but we were able to get a couple of good shots.

5.  Saturday Picnic--The Wintch family hosted an amazing picnic lunch and Easter egg hunt at the ranch on Saturday.  After eating, while some of the adults were hiding the Easter bags for everyone, Darren and I took a hike with some cousins to a little rock peak.  The view was amazing!  Mary Wintch got this shot of us at the top.  Darren and I are the little dots to the far right. :)

6.  Easter Egg Hunt--It is a Wintch family tradition to hide little Easter bags for everyone on the mountain side on the Saturday before Easter.  The Wintches were kind enough to make me and Darren our own bags.  We had a lot of fun searching the mountain for our bags with the kids. 

7.  Family History--The ranch and it's surrounding areas are filled with history.  I loved listening to my dad's cousin, John Wintch, tell us stories about the history that surrounded us.  The home they live in on the ranch used to be an old train station, and there are remnants of old potato sheds and lambing shelters that my great-great grandfather used on the ranch.  Richard Wintch, another of my dad's cousins, told me I was the 5th generation of Wintch/Sonne's to visit the ranch.  There is something special about walking in the same places my ancestors walked and made their living.

Laura, Dallin, Richard, Darren and me in front of the old potato shed

8.  Old West Music--Mary Wintch set the perfect mood as we drove into the ranch Saturday morning by playing a CD of Old Western Music including songs like "Cold, Clear Water" and "Home on the Range."  It was hard to keep a straight face while listening to some of the songs, but it sure fit the setting perfectly.

9.  Easter Dinner--We returned to the Wintch home in Manti, Utah on Saturday night so that we could attend church and have Easter dinner there on Sunday.  Mary prepared an amazing meal of ham, potatoes, salad, and rolls with ice cream, banana bread, and strawberries for dessert.  Needless to say, we did not leave Manti hungry!

10.  Manti Temple--I absolutely love the Manti Temple.  It is so beautiful.  There is a beautiful view of the temple from Mary's Manti home.  On our way out of town Sunday evening, we drove around the temple grounds.  We didn't get any pictures of the temple on this trip, but here is an old favorite that Mary took of us a couple of years ago when Darren and I visited Manti for the 4th of July after becoming engaged.

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend, as well!

Happy Birthday, Darren!

I feel like a very lucky woman to be married to this man:

Darren's birthday was on Sunday.  I love birthdays, especially when it's the birthday of someone about whom I care so much.  Even though Darren worked Friday and Saturday, we did our best to stretch out our celebrations over the weekend.  I think we did a pretty good job!  All of the moments in my Happy Now 10 for last week will come from his birthday weekend.

1.  Cold Stone--We tried to squeeze as many yummy birthday treats into the weekend as possible.  On Friday night, Darren and I went to Cold Stone to get our favorites (Cold Stone's founder and I share the same favorite--"Founder's Favorite"--and Darren's was  "Berry, Berry Good").

2.  Last Minute Gift Idea--On Saturday morning, I went to the grocery store to do some last minute birthday grocery shopping.  As I pulled into the grocery store parking lot, I noticed some girl scouts had set up shop outside the store.  Darren and I had recently bought a box of Thin Mints and a box of Samoas.  We both LOVE Samoas and strictly split the box down the middle so that we each had an equal share.  Out of the kindness of my heart, I decided to go in for one more last minute birthday gift for Darren--a box of Samoas just for him.  It may seem like a pathetic gift, but, believe me, it was warmly received. :)

3.  Productive Saturday--Really productive weekends are few and far between for me.  By the time the weekend rolls around, I'm usually ready to dedicate those two days to purely leisure activities.  Perhaps because I was so excited for Darren's birthday, however, and had a lot I wanted to do for that weekend, I actually got a lot done.  What a great feeling it is to be unexpectedly productive!

4.  Red Robin--One of Darren's favorite restaurants is Red Robin, so that's where we celebrated Darren's pre-birthday dinner out.  Darren's parents paid for this dinner and for a movie we caught afterward.  So fun!

5.   Birthday Breakfast--When I asked Darren what he wanted for his birthday breakfast, he mentioned a breakfast I had tried a while ago for the first time and hadn't made since--ebelskivers.  We had bought an ebelskiver pan with a gift card we received for our wedding.  Trying something somewhat adventurous when it comes to cooking is not my forte, but I wanted to give them another shot.  Darren made scrambled eggs with fresh tomatos and avocados to go with the filled pancakes.  I have to say, it was all pretty delicious!

6.  Birthday Presents--Nothing beats giving a present to someone who shows genuine appreciation for all the gifts he receives.  Darren is one of those people.  He received cards and gifts from his parents, my parents, his siblings and me, and he seemed so grateful for each one.  It was a joy to watch him open his gifts.

Here's Darren with two of his gifts--the box of Somoas (on which I had to write "For Darren's mouth only", partly to help remind me) and a binder of letters that members of his family and mine wrote to him for his birthday.

7.  Birthday Brownies--Before going to church, I made a pan of brownies to take so that we could celebrate Darren's birthday with our sweet little primary class.  I got a little wound up Sunday morning trying to get everything ready and done in time for us to get to our morning Sacrament meeting, which in my head I was thinking was at 10.  We arrived at the church at 10:06 and, though we were a little late, I was congratulating myself on having gotten so much done that morning.  As we walked into the chapel, the congregation was singing what I assumed was the opening hymn.  It was not until we sat down that we realized the people surrounding us were not our ward members.  Our ward didn't start for another hour.  Somehow, and I'm not entirely sure how this happened, I had convinced myself on that particular Sunday that our ward met an hour before it usually did, and Darren just followed my lead.  We quickly excused ourselves after that ward's CLOSING hymn and went home to relax for another hour. :)

8.  Healthy Eats--Lest you think that all Darren and I ate last weekend was junk food, I feel the need to state that we have actually significantly bumped up our fruit and veggie intake.  We had a very colorful birthday dinner for Darren, complete with a large salad and apples, oranges, and carrots on the side.  This left room for the little extra sugar we had planned to round out the weekend. :)

9.  Birthday Cake--Darren and I have pretty similar tastes in food (except that he enjoys seafood and I can barely tolerate the smell), so I was more than happy to make the cake he requested below (which turns out to also be my favorite cake and frosting combo: confetti cake with rainbow chip frosting).

10.  FaceTime with Family--At the end of our weekend of celebrations, Darren and I chatted with my parents, Chris, and Steven on FaceTime.  What an amazing thing it is to be able to see someone while you talk to them from hundreds of miles away.  How I love my family and am grateful for our ability to stay in touch this way!

Happy Now-March 11

Here are my Happy Now 10 for the past two weeks:

1.  Traveling to Tessa--  I could do a whole Happy Now post just on a trip Katie Houston and I took last week to visit our dear friend and mommy-to-be, Tessa Hendrickson, in Cheyenne, WY.  I took the day off work two Fridays ago and Katie and I started driving early Friday morning.  It was a wonderful weekend: from the road trip with Katie to our time with Tessa and baby girl.  Katie posted a more detailed summary of the trip with pictures on her blog here.  It went by much too quickly!

2.   Thoughtful Friends--Unfortunately, a case of food poisoning joined me on my trip to see Tessa after Katie and I stopped for lunch on our way to Cheyenne.  While being sick was certainly not fun, it did serve to remind me of the amazing friends I have.  They changed our entire weekend plans so that we could all "lie low."  We watched movies and talked, and I felt their love and concern for me all weekend.  I'm so grateful for such people in my life!

3.  Leaving Reagan--As news that I will not be returning to Reagan to teach next year spreads, I have been touched by the responses and well-wishes I have received.

4.  FaceTime with Chris--I had the chance to FaceTime with Chris last week.  It had been WAY too long since we had talked, and it made my day to get to "see" and talk with him.

5.  RESPECT Video--Fifth grade was assigned to make the character education video for the month of March at Reagan.  The character trait this month is respect, and it was so fun to work with the students to put a video together for the school.

6.  Teacher Support--Friday was just one of those days in the classroom.  I had had a difficult experience with a student at the end of what of seemed like a long week.  During the last 40 minutes of the day, during my prep time, I went into the other fifth grade teacher's room which is joined to mine by a small study room.  I sat down in a seat next to her desk and proceeded to tearfully unload some of my frustrations.  She was so great to spend her planning time just listening to me and giving me some very helpful feedback.  I have been really aware of all of the wonderful people who surround me lately, and I am truly grateful for them!

7.  Spring Weather--We have had the most glorious spring-ish weather this weekend.  Darren and I took a walk outside today and I actually wore flip-flops.  I am so ready and excited for warmer weather!

8.  Canyon Run--Due to the warmer weather, Darren and I took a run up Provo Canyon on Saturday for the first time since the fall.  Not only did it feel great to be a little more active (I have been somewhat hibernating the past couple of months), but the air and canyon scenery were invigorating!

9.  Arizona Planning--While we are still not 100% sure where we'll be this fall for law school, it is looking more and more like we'll be calling Phoenix "home."  Especially as the weather here in Utah has started to give us a taste of warmer weather, Darren and I are excited about this potential move.  We have started looking at teaching jobs and places to rent and it is all starting to feel really real.  Exciting!

10.  War Horse--I recently started reading War Horse with my students at school.  I thought the movie was great but, as is usually the case, I'm finding the book to be even better and a fun read with the kids.

Happy Now-Feb. 27

Whew!  It's been too long.  I've tried to pick out the top 10 moments from the past three weeks.  Here are my Happy Now 10:

1. Hugo 3D--Darren and I weren't initially interested in this film.  When I called my parents one night a few weeks ago, however, I caught them on their way home from seeing this movie and they raved about it.  With such a high recommendation from my parents (who insisted that we see it in 3D) and knowing that it had been nominated for Best Picture, we decided to go for it.  We were blown away!  I loved the message of each person needing to find what their unique purpose and contribution can be in life.  It was a beautiful film.

2.  Love and Logic Book--The third book that I've read this year was Sornson's Creating Classrooms Where Teachers Love to Teach based on the philosophy of Love and Logic (okay, I technically started this book in 2011, but I finished it in 2012 so I'm counting it).  It was a very insightful book with some great practical advice that I could start incorporating into my classroom immediately.  My current class has challenged me as a teacher more than any other year I've taught.  Reading this book has added some much-needed tools to my teacher tool-belt.

3.  Birthday gift planning for Darren--Darren's birthday is coming up in about a month and I have had fun planning a little birthday surprise for him. :)

4.  Great Grandmas--I have been thinking a lot about my grandmothers lately and the kind of women they were.  They were both such elegant and accomplished women.  I remember thinking how much I wanted to emulate certain traits that they had, and how much I wanted to make them proud.  I loved the way that my Grandma Sonne's house was always filled with the smell of something cooking/baking: bread, meat, cookies, etc.  It always created such a warm, homey environment in her home.  I would love to be able to create that in my home in the future.  My Grandma Hubbard (Mama Di) loved animals and I cherish the moments in which I was able to bond with her over this mutual affection for our furry friends.  She had such a gentle, warm heart.  Below are some framed photographs of my grandmothers on their wedding days that I had framed at our reception.  I feel very blessed to have had these women in my life.

5.  Writer's Workshop--One of the 5th grade teachers I work with mentioned that the Provo Library will be hosting a writer's workshop in March.  I am REALLY excited about this prospect.

6.  Visit with Shelley and Stephen--Katie and I were lucky enough to visit with Shelley while she and her family were in Park City recently.  It was the first time we had the chance to meet her darling little boy, Stephen.  I see so much of Shelley in him and know that this is the beginning of a great little life and family!

7.  Sleepless in Seattle--Darren recently took an overnight trip to Seattle to take a tour of Seattle University School of Law campus.  He had a great time overall, but he cracked me up when he called me Thursday night from Seattle.  We had picked the cheapest hotel we could find by the airport for Darren.  When he called he had just been given a new room since the lock was broken in the first room they gave him--but apparently the second one wasn't much better.  Darren was laughing as he called me and described it as the "mangiest" room he had ever seen.  Needless to say, he didn't have the deepest of sleeps, but it certainly helped to make sure he was early for his appointment the next morning.

Darren in front of Seattle University after a less than ideal sleep.  He's still looking pretty handsome, though, if I do say so myself.

8.  Valentine's Tulips--For Valentine's Day, Darren got me a bouquet of my favorite flowers.  Isn't it amazing how flowers immediately brighten a space?

9.  Hosting Book Club--I volunteered to host the February Book Club meeting at our little apartment this month.  As excited as I get about playing hostess, I also get just a little bit stressed.  This apartment has never been so clean as the two times I've hosted book club.  The hostess is also in charge of preparing a little refreshment, which also sent me into a tizzy.  For the days leading up to the meeting I had extravagant desserts planned in my head.  What did I end up making?  Brownies--which I tried to jazz up by cutting with a heart-shaped cookie cutter and sprinkling with powdered sugar.  Sheesh.  And as a side note, I'm REALLY excited about our new book club book: Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress.

10.  Lunch with G.G. Vandagriff--I first met G.G. in my BYU Hampton Court Ward in which her husband was serving as our bishop.  She is a woman who I greatly admire for several reasons, not the least of which is that she has published several books in which she shares her testimony and the life lessons she has learned.  She is currently working on a Regency for which she has asked me to be an alpha-reader (which totally made my day).  It was so great to catch up with her over lunch last Saturday!

Happy Now-Feb. 6

One of my New Year's Resolutions is to read at least two books a month.  Twenty-four books in 2012 would definitely be an improvement over last year.  I know to some of my friends and family who are avid readers, this may not seem like a very lofty goal.  As much as I love to read, however, it is not something for which I always make time.  Unfortunately, I am already a 1/2 book behind, but I plan on catching up to stay on track.  Fortunately, I did not make a resolution about making regular blog posts. :)  Here are my Happy Now 10 for the past couple of weeks.

1.  Rock Climbing--In my last post I mentioned that Darren chose rock climbing for our next activity.  This was definitely a new experience for me.  I started to get nervous when we stepped out onto the padded, blue floor beneath the rock climbing walls.  We started by having an instructor show us how to tie the proper knot and what to do should your partner start plummeting to his death while climbing.  I wish I could say that I totally jumped at the opportunity, rolled up my sleeves, and sprinted up the rock wall on the first try.  It definitely took more than one try, and my forearms have never been so sore after grasping desperately to the hand grips, but I did eventually make it to the top and actually really started to enjoy myself by the end.  I was lucky to have such an encouraging partner who kept the rope taut and sent words of motivation up to me while climbing.  I was the first to suggest we go rock climbing again soon.

2.  Dessert with the Grossarths--I grew up with Jeanne through elementary school and jr. high until her family moved to Utah after our freshman year of high school.  While I haven't been able to see her as often as I would like, we have kept in touch and I have loved watching her beautiful family grow.  Darren and I were able to have dessert with Jeanne, her husband Kevin, and their three adorable kids about a week ago.  It was great to talk with Jeanne and Kevin, and Darren and I were both charmed by the kids, especially their oldest little boy.  Such a fun evening!

3.  Classroom Comics--For Christmas I received a tear-off daily calendar of teacher-related comics.  One day last week Darren came to pick me up at school and help me sort some papers.  Before leaving, he noticed the comic for that day on my desk and decided to try and draw it on the board for my students to see the next day.  I have to admit, I didn't know my husband had such artistic talent.  My kids loved the comic and I definitely gained some "cool points" just by being associated with Mr. Myler.

4.  Geneva Memories--In 2006 I was lucky enough to spend some time in Geneva, Switzerland on a BYU internship.  While in Geneva, I was able to meet some amazing people and life-long friends.  One of those people was Afton Beutler, my internship mentor.  Afton has dedicated the past several years of her life to the Worldwide Organization for Women.  She has worked tirelessly to unite women and their cause for good throughout the world.  I felt privileged to join in her work, if only for a few months.  In December, Afton e-mailed me that she would be visiting Utah in January and wanted to see me and meet Darren.  We met Afton for dinner last week, and it was SO great to see her.  I was flooded with some wonderful memories from my internship and was, again, so inspired by the work she and the NGO are doing.

Me with Afton and some others from the UN on the International Day of Peace in Geneva in 2006

Dinner with Afton 2012

5.  Death Comes to Pemberley--My first book of 2012 was P.D. James's Death Comes to Pemberley.  Mystery is probably my second favorite genre, after historical fiction.  When I heard that a well-known mystery writer decided to set her next novel among the characters of Austen's Pride and Prejudice at Pemberley, I knew I had to get my hands on that book.  I was only able to figure out part of the mystery by the end, and enjoyed being kept on my toes.  What else did I enjoy about the book?  The author twice snuck in peripheral mentions of characters from  Persuasion (my FAVORITE Austen novel) and Emma.  She made several of Austen's characters seem like contemporaries whose lives occasionally intersected.  Love it!

6.  Personal Quote Book--My Dad has encouraged my brother and me to keep a book of favorite quotes we come across.  It becomes our own, personal source of gathered inspiration.  I was reading through some of the quotes I've gathered over the past several years and was, again, touched by the power of words.  I love how these words of wisdom and inspiration continue to affect the lives of those who read them generations after they were written.  Here are just a few examples:

• "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." (~Thoreau, Walden)
• "Oh who can tell, save he whose heart hath tried." (~Lord Byron)
• "I gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which I must stop and look fear in the face ... I say to myself, I've lived through this and can take the next thing that comes along ... We must do the things we think we cannot do." (~Eleanor Roosevelt)
• "Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me." (1 Nephi 21:16)

The most recent addition to my quote book came just today when I read this quote on the inspiring blog of a dear family friend, Karen Holmes: "It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.  The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at the worst, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat." (~Teddy Roosevelt)  Thanks, Karen!

7.  Dryer Faux Pas--I was helping Darren fold some laundry over the weekend when he came across a sweater of mine that I had left in the dryer a little too long.  We just had to laugh.  Perhaps it could work as a shirt for a future daughter?

8.  Greek Yogurt--I have been wanting to try some greek yogurt for a while.  I came across a simple and delicious-sounding breakfast idea that involved greek yogurt, honey, and a variety of berries.  I decided to try some this past weekend and loved it!  It was really sweet, so Darren and I had some for dessert tonight, as well.  I think we've found another favorite!

9.  Movie Night--Darren and I went to see our first movie of the year in the theater two weekends ago.  I love the whole experience of going to the movies--there are no distractions and, for better or worse, you can become completely wrapped up in the on-screen action.

10.  Dreaming with Darren--I love talking about the future with Darren.  Talking about the immediate future fills me with excitement about the realistic changes we can anticipate.  Sometimes Darren and I venture into the unknown distant future and talk about, ideally, where we would like to be several years from now.  We talk about the design of our dream home, the land we would want surrounding our home, and our future family.  Most recently we got on the subject of future pets.  Fortunately, I have married someone who loves animals (almost) as much as I do (he stops short of hamsters and mice :).  Today over dinner we were talking about the pets we would like to have, and I went ahead and chose names.  Darren decided that he would at least need a horse and a dog, and I proposed that I would need my own horse, dog, and cat.  Here are the names I'm currently considering (pictures from pinterest):

• Horse: Indie

• Golden Retriever: Atticus

• Orange Striped Tabby Cat: Scout

Now to make that idyllic future a reality. :)

Happy Now-Jan. 22

It has been a great week!  Here are this week's Happy Now 10:

1.  Wedding Album--Woot!  Woot!  That's right!  My parents received our wedding album earlier this week and then forwarded it to us.  I think it turned out great, and we are SO excited to have it!  Here is a sample of one of our pages. :)

2.  New Necklace--This week I also received my first Etsy purchase in the mail.  I saw a picture of this necklace on Pinterest and loved the delicate leaf pattern.  This was quite the week for receiving fun things in the mail!

3.  Welcomed Work--Darren and I have been amazed at how hard it has been to find a full-time job for Darren until law school starts.  This week, however, Darren received a long-awaited job offer from Lowes.  We feel so blessed to have this offer and be able to start adding to our savings!

4.  Dinner with Friends--We got to have dinner with our friends Sara and Ian on Thursday.  It was great to catch up with these two, and we are looking forward to doing more activities with them!

5.  Student Puppet Shows--The mom of one of my students owns several puppets and performs puppet shows at the local library.  At the beginning of the year, this mom offered to help my students perform puppets shows should it ever fit into our curriculum.  I recently had my students write fables and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to incorporate puppet shows.  We had two fables performed last week and will have three more next week.  The puppet shows have been great so far, and I am so grateful for this mom's help!

6.  Rainy Days--Saturday morning we woke up to a wonderful rainstorm that lasted all day until it became cold enough in the late afternoon to turn into a snow storm.  It provided some much needed moisture and made for a wonderfully cozy Saturday.

7.  Breakfast at Mimi's--Darren and I started off a fun Saturday with breakfast at Mimi's Cafe.  I love the atmosphere at Mimi's, not to mentioned their hot chocolate and omelets. :)

8.  New Books--Mimi's Cafe just happens to be right next to Barnes and Noble.  Yesterday our browsing in this book store turned into some fun purchases.  I am perhaps most excited about the Below Stairs memoir I bought of a kitchen maid in the 1920s that inspired the creator of "Downton Abbey."

9.  Library Cards--Darren and I went from Barnes and Noble to the new Springville Library where we got our library cards and spent some time reading.

10.  Rock Climbing--I'm afraid I put Darren's "man card" in serious jeopardy last week when I chose crocheting as our first opportunity to learn something new together.  It is now his turn to choose the activity, so I must be equally supportive now that he has chosen to go rock climbing.  They have "family night" reduced prices at the Quarry on Mondays, so we are planning on going tomorrow.  Rock climbing is not really a new activity for Darren, but it certainly is for me.  It should be an adventure!