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After returning home from a six-day business trip in Denver, I was surprised to find a lit tree and a nativity scene in our apartment - cutest husband ever! Ben had done some cute decorating - complete with a Santa Claus tree skirt. So cute! Ben let me decorate it... it was a lot of fun. I had a few sparkly fruits, some ribbon left over from the wedding (and some I've been saving), a work in progress for sure. But it was really a fun thing! My sister-in-law worked at Modern Display for the month, so I stopped by to pick up the rest of the ornaments I needed to fill in the gaps. :) I found myself making adjustments every few days, as I would walk by and see something out of place... I guess it'll only go up from here.
Was turning 23 fun for anyone else? Yes, any birthday is of course exciting, but turning 23? 16 was cool, 17 was great, 18 was too... 19, 20, 21, college (when you had dessert parties and fun dress-up parties and invited everyone, rad!), and 22 maybe. Now I'm just getting older. Which is guess is just the way it is. I guess one of the good things is that now when I tell people my age, they'll no longer reply, "wow! you're only --??? (fill in the blank)" At least 23 demands a bit more respect, right?Well I had a great birthday. Ben gave flowers and took me out to a nice steak dinner at Ruth's Chris to celebrate. He even let me order french fries as my side and as many Diet Cokes as I wanted! The atmosphere in the restaurant is what I'd describe as a Contemorary Art Deco. The center of the restaurant is the lowest level, and from there, different tables on different tiers of the floor. did I mention the up-lighting? v. cool. So I dressed up accordingly, (surprise surprise). Even bought a new lipstick for the occasion. (tried to match it to this font color) ;) Here's a pic from dinner. Do I look old or what???
Ben said "happy birthday" to me at least 55 times throughout the day, which was nice - I think he was trying to fill in for the six family members I didn't get to see that day. Here's to another year - on to the next!
I'm posting some pictures for those of you who are away from Temple Square this season. Ben and I went with all the family to see the lights last Friday, and yes, in true form, it was windy and freezing! Wowee it was cold. But we had a really fun time. Although... I think there are fewer lights this year. It seemed like the usual 40-minute lap took only about 20 minutes. hmm... maybe it was just me. It was fun to see the Temple in the middle of all the lights and visit again the place we were married. PS - I got my wedding video back today. It's really great!
I've had the most interesting experience this week. Since Sunday, I've been in Denver at a grant-writing workshop presented by The Grantsmanship Center and sponsored by the State Scholars Initiative. (Utah Scholars is the Utah version of the SSI program). All of the other states participating in the Initiative are here as well... bringing a total of 21 people from various states around the country, not to mention various ages, races, socio-economic levels, education levels, etc... you name it! I am the youngest person here by far... probably young enough to be the daughter of at least 70% of the people here. We meet from 8:30 to 5:30 each day, and have all lunches and dinners together. It's nice to be put up in the Westin, and nice that the conference is right downstairs in the hotel. However, today (day 4/5), while looking around the table at lunch and observing the various and varied conversations happening, I realized what this feels like... Jury Duty! But not just the mundane jury duty, rather the kind where the group is sequestered and has only the company of one another for an extended period of time. Like "12 Angry Men" or "Runaway Jury" or something. It's so interesting to be learning about different people... from the 'haves' to the 'have nots', from old to young, fat to skinny, from a Louisiana-bred Southern Belle to a South-Dakotan "dontcha knoow, eh", and today I even sat by a Vegetarian! It's like a different life, where these people are the only world you know, and since it's been a few days, it kinda feels like an alternate universe where this becomes your reality and normal life is hard to remember.I just have to sit back and laugh - adults are so diverse! I'm lucky to have friends and family who I know will develop as cool people. Haha - there really is something to be learned from everyone.
What an amazing November I had! First, you might have noticed that I changed by blog intro-paragraph from 'unmarried' to 'newly married'... November 10th was definitely the highlight of my month, but it didn't stop there. After 22 years of planning my wedding, everything turned out perfectly! :) The only thing I would've changed was the passage of time, what a blur the whole day was! People are right, the day does go by SO fast, I wish I had a 'slo-mo' button. The temple was an incredible experience - and the reception that night was everything I envisioned and more. Those of you who were there- thanks for making the night so special.
Here is a pic from our "exit"
Ben surprised me with a night at Little America that night, and then it was off to Mehico. Puerto Vallarta was great! The weather was warm and just what the doctor ordered, but I would say we had a rather cultural experience. Here's a lesson... Cancun feels like Miami, but downtown Puerto Vallarta feels like Mexico. God Bless the USA - :) We had a great time though, and I think Ben was impressed with my conversational Spanish.
After returning, we worked two very short days, and then off to Monty for Thanksgiving! It was SO nice to spend some quality time with the family... even when they were in Utah for the wedding it seemed like we didnt' have time to really visit, with all the last minute errands and various other pre-wedding functions. Taryn planned a truly fantastic menu for our Thanksgiving Feast... and feast doesn't even do the meal justice. Taryn is unbelievable - and so ambitious. (buy her stock now... and one day be rich!) Three cheers for Taryn.
So while we were there, my mom set up a Cooking demo with an Italian chef who owns/operates/cooks for his own restaurant in town called Moroldo's. It was fun to be in the kitchen with him and listen to his awesome accent. He'd demonstrate each course and then serve us the food. Yummy! Here is a picture from our 'fieldtrip'. (and just to clarify...Ben found my high-school softball jacket and made me wear it in the picture)
Another fun thing we did was head down to this painting place in Whitefish... the place was called "Stumptown Art Studio" - what a name. We all painted our own pieces while we sat around a big table... and it was a blast! On the back of our plates we all named this fieldtrip: Stimpson Stompdown at the Stumptown Art Studio. We are so clever - it was really hilarious at the time. Here we are!
The trip was so much fun- we decided to ditch work another two days to play some more. Ok, just kidding, a blizzard blew in and delayed our flight for 2 days! Whattaya do? We pulled another week-long vacation out of this trip too. I think I worked a total of 5 days in the whole month of November. Made me wonder if I ever wanted to go back. :)
Ben and I are having so much fun right now. Still getting our apartment furnished and such, but for now we're livin on love, and Ben's mom's leftovers (I don't cook yet, and she's just so charitable!). We're looking forward to Christmas and cuddling up as the weather turns cold. Back to reality for us (I have no more vacation days until next April I swear), but it sure was an Exceptional Month-Long Vacay!
