Park City

Park City is a beautiful mountain resort town nestled in the mountains east of Salt Lake City.  Darren and I love visiting there as often as we can.  Over the past couple of years, Park City has become a favorite city of ours not only for its natural beauty and artsy shops, but because it has been the location of some important milestones in our relationship:

• On one of our first dates Darren drove me to Park City to have dinner and to go on the Toboggan Ride.  It was a great date.  It was on this date that I realized how much of a true gentleman Darren is.  While walking around Park City he traded me spots on the sidewalk several times to make sure he was on my road side.  He opened doors, asked me questions about my job, LISTENED and then asked more questions, and sacrificed some of his own warm clothing to make sure his unprepared date was warm enough on the Toboggan.  I will never be able to live down, however, that despite the fact that I was enjoying the date, I fell asleep on the car ride home--for just a few minutes.  In my defense, it was a Friday night after a long week during my first year as a teacher. He's lucky I was able to maintain consciousness as long as I did.  :) 
• A little less than a year later, we decided that we wanted to take some of our engagement pictures on the old Main Street in Park City.  We met Darren's brother, Steven, there early one Saturday morning and got some great shots!

We didn't know it at the time, but this picture was taken in front of the hotel where we would stay on our honeymoon a few months later-- the Marriott Park City Summit Watch

• I knew our honeymoon would be somewhere close (either Ca or Ut) because I only had a week off of teaching and we both wanted to keep our travel plans simple.  Darren still made it an exciting surprise, however, by secretly arranging for us to stay at the Summit Watch for a week and then revealing it to me during our first dance at our reception.  The hotel was in the perfect location at the bottom of the old Main Street, so all of the shops and restaurants were within walking distance.  Needless to say, it was wonderful!

Honeymoon--old Main Street, Park City

Honeymoon--Dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse

• Most recently, Darren and I ran our first 1/2 Marathon together in Park City.  Darren is naturally much more athletic than I, but he ran with and encouraged me the whole 13.1 miles.  He was even sweet enough to give me a heads up when we were approaching a race photographer so that I didn't look like I was dying too painfully in any of the pictures.  As you can tell in the pictures below, however, I was focusing too much on surviving to even think about smiling for any pictures.  The true smile came out only once--in the picture taken as we crossed the finish line!

Delicious Autumn!

Delicious autumn!  My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.  ~George Eliot

Leaves in Hobble Creek Canyon

I have been inspired by the beautiful autumn-themed posts of others to write my own post about this wonderful season.  While each season has its charms, autumn has always been my favorite.  I think it started while growing up in Redlands, CA where the summers were excruciatingly hot and fall marked the beginning of the cool, crisp weather.  My feelings for this season have only become stronger since living in Utah and New York.  The leaves change to such vibrant colors here in Utah and fall in Manhattan meant cooler weather, fewer crowds, jackets, and pumpkins on the worn steps of brownstones.

We have had the most glorious fall weekends these past two weekends in Utah.  Two Saturdays ago I started the day by riding my bike up Hobble Creek Canyon with another teacher at my school.  Last Sunday, Darren and I took a drive up the same canyon to snap some pictures of the changing leaves.  My love for this season has been born all over again.  I returned from both trips feeling invigorated--wanting to pull out my spice candles, pour some apple cider, make a carmel apple, eat candy corns, and start carving a pumpkin.  It truly is a delicious season, isn't it?

Hobble Creek Canyon

Hobble Creek Canyon

Hobble Creek Canyon

Goodbye Summer, Hello New School Year!

 Tonight I am on the brink of a new school year (my third as a teacher) and hence two blog posts in one day.  It might be a while before the next one.  It is always hard to say goodbye to summer, but at least tonight I feel more excitement than nerves as I anticipate teaching tomorrow.

This has been a wonderful summer--great trips, time to relax, visits with family and friends, and the opportunity to pursue some long-held goals.  Some of the best moments of the summer, however, have been in the summer evenings.  The heat begins to abate and the outdoors becomes so inviting.  Here are just a few ways Darren and I have spent the summer evenings this year:

Big Ben in London

At an Owls Baseball game (Darren's boss had extra tickets one evening early this summer)

Barbecuing with the Chaffees at our apartment in Springville (above and below)

Roommate reunion with Katie, Tessa, and Melissa at Maglebys--Love these girls!

Enjoying several summer storms and beautiful sunsets

Celebrating the engagement and approaching marriage of close friends--Congrats Whit!

As hard as it is to say goodbye to moments like these, I love the sense of fresh starts and the potential that comes with a new school year.  I met several of my new students at Back to School Night last week and I know it's going to be another great class.  My only hope is to communicate the potential I see in my students to them.  I want them to work hard and be the leaders I know they can be.  They need a guide and I hope I can be a good one for them.  Here's to the fresh bouquet of sharpened pencils sitting on my teacher's desk ready to write this year's stories! 

The Big 2-8

My first birthday as a wife was wonderful!  I have a great feeling about being 28.  The past couple of years have brought some big and exciting changes, and I can't wait to see what this year has in store for us.

It's a little embarrassing to admit, but I told Darren that in lieu of gifts I just wanted to eat out for every meal on my birthday--can you tell I enjoy a good meal and not having to do dishes?  Like the family reunion, I meant for this day to be much more well-documented in photos, but in my excitement for the day I often forgot to take those pictures.  Hopefully the following description and few pictures will do the day justice.

I woke up early on my birthday excited to start the fun day we had planned.  Darren had arranged to take the day off so that we could spend it together, and I just couldn't wait!  I came into the kitchen area that morning to get ready for breakfast and found a bouquet of pink tulips (my favorite) and gerber daisies on the table.  They were beautiful!  Darren had apparently retrieved them out of their hiding place and put them on the table early that morning.  As excited as I was for the day and being the light sleeper that I am, I'm amazed he did all that without waking me up.  For breakfast I decided that I wanted to go to Kneaders in Provo for their delicious French Toast.  I was never a french toast fan growing up, but there's something about the syrup and strawberries and creme that come with this french toast that makes it impossible to resist.

After breakfast, I decided that I wanted to open some sweet cards and gifts from family and friends.  From my parents I received a contribution to a bike of my choice (see earlier post :) and a book called Parisian Chic: A Style Guide by Ines de la Fressange.  So fun!  Chris gave me an awesome new running outfit from Georgetown.  I wore it to the gym later that morning and felt so smart and sophisticated being associated with Georgetown's School of Medicine.  My in-laws gave us a generous gift so that that night's dinner could be on them.  Thank you everyone!  The gifts and cards were all so wonderful.

The Georgetown running outfit from Chris and flowers from Darren

Though I was still a little full from breakfast when lunch time came around, I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to go to an old favorite:  Darren and I ate light at Provo's Zupas Cafe.  There are a lot of fun memories with roommates and great sandwiches, soups, and salads to be found there.

Later that afternoon, we came home to find white roses (my other favorite flower) delivered to our apartment from my parents.  What a lucky girl I was to have two such beautiful flower arrangements in my apartment!

Darren then offered to take me to a movie I had been dying to see since I read the book and found out they were making it into a movie:  The Help.  I LOVED it!  I have already seen it again with some girls in my book group and loved it just as much the second time as the first.  I really appreciated Darren taking me to see it as I know it wasn't at the top of his list of movies to see, but I think he secretly really enjoyed it.  The movie is sweet, sad, and poignant with some very funny moments in between.

We went to Carrabas for dinner (yum, yum!) and grabbed a cupcake from my new favorite cupcake place, The Cocoa Bean, for dessert on the way home.  It was a fantastic day filled with fun and food (neither of us had to eat much for the next several days!).  Thanks for all the birthday wishes and your help in making it such a great day!

Sonne Family Reunion

Darren and I recently returned from the annual Sonne family reunion in Carlsbad, Ca.  We had a great time visiting with family and relaxing at the beach--definitely two of my favorite things.  I wish I had taken more pictures, but here are a few cute ones.

We really missed Chris this year as he had already left for Med School.  My mom was with him for the first part of the reunion to attend Georgetown's White Coat Ceremony with him.  It sounded like an awesome event!  At the ceremony Chris received his first doctor's coat with his name and Georgetown University stitched on it.  I got this photo in a text from him after the ceremony.  I'm a mighty proud sister!

Here's Darren with Kim and Richard's cute little boy Parker.  He is joined below by Jill and Tom's girls, Sadie and Ashlyn.

Classic Bikes

Darren and I have had fun this summer running and riding our bikes through Provo Canyon.  The canyon is beautiful this time of year and, if you get up early enough, the weather isn't too bad either.  A couple of weekends ago, Darren and I stopped at a bike shop in downtown Provo.  We have casually discussed upgrading my bike to something a little more race worthy should we ever decide to follow in my mom's footsteps and try a bike race in the future.  Our goal in going to the bike shop was to have me fitted for a bike so that we'd know what size bike I'd need.  I became seriously sidetracked, however, when Darren pointed out a charming classic bike in the corner with a basket attached to the front.  Bike riding is a hobby I have just recently gotten into, but ever since watching Anne Shirley ride her bike through downtown Avonlea I have dreamed of owning a classic bike with a basket on the front.  Everything about this bike was perfect: the shape, the basket, the color, the brown leather seat.  My mind was filled with images of living in a little town and riding this bike to the market where I would fill the basket with a baguette and fresh produce for our week's lunches.  Or, I could fill the basket with a sack lunch and writing materials and bike to a spot under a shady tree where I would waste away an afternoon eating and writing.  One day I have to get a bike like this one.  I made Darren take a picture--it is a goofy picture of me but you can still appreciate the beauty of the bike.

Congrats, Grad!

This post is more than a month overdue, but I am so proud of my little brother who recently graduated from college.  It was so fun to attend his graduation and celebrate the culmination of his years of hard work and service as an undergrad with him.  Chris, I am so excited for you and the experiences in store for you in med school.  Your heart, intelligence, and patience will make you an amazing physician.  Love you, Bud!