Oops!

I've been saying how glad I am that my apartment has cement walls so my neighbors can't hear me practicing. Well, my next-door neighbor came over tonight to ask me a question, and then asked afterward if I play the cello now. Turns out that there are a few walls that don't have cement...the wall between our apartments being one of them. Oops! Looks like I'll be moving my practice area to my spare bedroom.

Today was just a half day at work thanks to a follow-up doctor's appointment in the morning. I got to see my nephew Beau after and played cars with him a bit. I couldn't stop staring at him because he's changed so much from the last time I remember him!

Girls Night Out

I spent Friday night at Jenny's in Heber after skiing. TJ came in to wake me up in the morning. He would steal my kisses and 'save them in his eyes'. To get them back, I had to feed him fake flowers that he would chew up and it would make him spit my kisses back out. Weird game, but hey - he's cute!

I took my cello and so Jenny played piano and Nate played the violin with me. It was actually pretty good. Then Jenny asked if we'd play for Micah's baptism next month. Apparently my eyes bugged out and I went really red. Nate just started crying. Jenny took our responses as a yes. Now I'm practising for 'I'm a Child of God'. Poor Jer doesn't know yet that he'll be playing the piano for us and Brett doesn't know Jenny's going to try talking him into playing the violin too with Micah. Oh the drama!  =D

All the girls went out to celebrate Sarah's birthday to a Thai restaurant in American Fork. Brittany and Bailey even came. It turned out to be pretty good food even though mom was pretty leery of it beforehand. Dad consented to play Rook with mom, Jodie, and I afterward. He was on my team and we lost.

We took pictures to send to Lisa so she'd feel involved.

Brittany and Me

This smile is pre-loss



Night Skiing at Sundance

I left work early so I could drive to Heber and pick up Jeremy and Nate to go night skiing at Sundance. Lori and Cody met us there. There was some false advertising in the way I was induced to ski after a seven year absence. I was 'told' that Nate spends most of the time on his backside because he can't stand up to get on the snowboard, and that Jeremy only skis down the bunny hill and can't do anything but a wedge with his skis. I figured I could handle the bunny hill. Yeah right, I can't even tell you where the bunny hill is at! We went right up the lift (which it turns out they've never been on before) and Jer and I skiied down the green 'easy' slopes together a few times. He tried to learn how to do S turns, but would say it made him too scared so he had to just go fast and get it over with. I make lots of turns so he had to wait at the bottom of the hill for me each run. Nate went down blues the whole time and did great!

We decided to take the lift up to the very top of the mountain for our last run. Again, I was tricked as it turns out there were only blue 'difficult' or black diamond slopes down. I am DEFINITELY an 'easy' slope skier, but I was surviving down the hill...until a man ran into me and we both crashed HARD. It was on a very steep, icy slope and so he slid down about 80 feet from me where I managed to stop. He was skiing backwards and said he didn't see me in his 'peripherals'. Reckless! After I sat up, the slope was so slick I ended up sliding down on my backside for about 300 feet before I was able to stop and stand up and ski down the rest of the way. On the bright side, while getting back up, I happened to see a large shooting star that I would have missed otherwise. Poor Jer though who was a speed demon down (while doing the wedge the whole time!) then had to wait for me at the bottom for ages. All in all, I never got winded or tired out while skiing and didn't do too bad. We skiied for over three hours so, who would have thought?!!

Trying on my sunglasses in the car.

Giving me Blue Steel - literally!

Cool Jer

Faux hawk at the lodge after
taking off the ski hat

First Lesson

I have officially had my first cello lesson. The teacher was very impressed and said I have a knack for drawing the best sound out of the strings. She was also surprised at how much I'd been able to learn on my own. But, even though there was flattery, I don't think I'll go back to her. The house was FILTHY. And for those of you who know me best, that spells N-E-W-T-E-A-C-H-E-R. I'm still cringing from it.

I did keep practicing when I returned home. I even tried to record me playing a few of the folk songs I mastered. All I can say is, I think there is some echoing in the room that was giving feedback to the recorder because I swear it didn't sound like that when I was actually playing! Needless to say, all the evidence has been deleted.  =D   Instead, I opted to just take still photos.

Ugh!

Feeling heart-sick didn't go away yesterday. I started the day out early with more hiccoughing heartbeats, then got lightheaded and REALLY nauseated. I had to go lay down in one of my bosses office on the ground with my feet elevated until the nausea was under control. I went down and got a super salty lunch to see if that would help and it did somewhat, but I got nauseated again so Laralynn from work drove me home at 3:00 p.m. I was lying down on my bed by 3:30 and slept until 8 p.m. Of course that meant I couldn't fall back to sleep until 2 a.m. and I had weird dreams, but, I got up on time this morning, made it to work early, and feel okay. Another boss just brought me sea salt almonds to help with my sodium intake. Rather nice! We'll see how I feel for the rest of the day...

Paying for it Later

My heart doctor says that sugar is a contributor to my heart problems. He'd originally said it was because it prevents you from retaining water which is what we want me to do to keep my blood pressure up, but then said it would also make my heart hiccough more often. After a week of no sugar, followed by a weekend of sugar (big *SIGH* for my dulce de leche cheesecake!), I'm going to have to agree with the doc. I felt horrible all during Church and really wanted to go home and sleep it off, but I had already committed to driving a blind sister in my ward home after Church. Skipping heartbeats, nausea, and lightheadedness are not conducive to paying attention.

In better news, I pulled my cello out again and was able to learn quite a few notes. I can play the D Scale AND was able to play about ten pages of songs by sight-reading, including five variations of 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star'. Can't wait for my first lesson!

CHEESEcake Factory

Lori and Cody made the journey to my neck of the woods so we could go to a movie together (I am unable/unwilling at this juncture to state the name of said movie), and then we headed to Cheesecake Factory. The 45 minute wait was well-worth the meal! Chicken parmesan sandwich, buffalo blaster, fries, and Dulce de Leche cheesecake. Their portions are so large though, that half the sandwich and the cheesecake were taken home for later when I could enjoy it on an empty stomach.

Cody and I also got a giggle when Lori ordered Ranch for her bread and it reminded both of us of the story of her doing that in Bath, England.

'Would you like any sauces with that? (Said in a British accent.)

'Ranch.' (Said in a very American accent.)

'I beg your pardon?' (British.)

'RANCH!' (AmEriCaN!)

Haha! Good times!

Barely Contained Excitement!

This picture sent to me by Lisa this morning of Matthew and Grant appropriately expresses my feelings of excitement mingled with fear -

I'm going to start cello lessons next week. I have the teacher and lesson all lined up, and am picking the rent-to-own cello up tonight from Summerhays after work. My visiting teacher works there and is helping me with the selection. The goal? To play OneRepublic's Secrets and Bach's Cello Suite No 1. That's not far-reaching at all, right?  Hey! If Brett can play the violin, I can play cello!

Bodyguard

I was used as a bodyguard today. MaryAnn, a woman I work with, gets invisiShields put on the iPhones and GPS devices for work. Last time she went, a questionable man lingered in the store for 45 minutes asking her questions about the numerous devices she had brought it and she didn't feel secure afterward leaving for her car. Enter security. Me. Needless to say, we didn't have any problems.

Last night I met up with my visiting teachers at Zuppas. I branched out and had the Pina Colada Salad. Interesting choice, but good. As for ward information, apparently there are 15 couples in my ward who have gotten engaged in the last three weeks. Sunday during my visiting teaching I met with two of them. Last night while I was visit taught, I met with two more. The bishop is pretty excited. Me, I just see lots of changes coming up in Relief Society for the visiting teaching assignments.

Date with the Dentist

Mom and I were going to go shopping at Walmart, but dad got it in his head that we were going to the movies. Who are we to deny him?  So...we went to see The Tourist. Cute movie reminiscent of Cary Grant's Charade. I made it back just in time for my dentist's appointment. Three shots and two cavity fills later, I was a slobbering fool with no feeling in the right side of my mouth! They do this weird thing now of covering all of the mouth except the tooth to be worked on. A pain to get it in, but rather nice when he's actually doing the work.

Afterward, I had dinner with dad...and had to eat very carefully. I laughed at him while we were at the table because of the cup he chose to use. He very matter-of-factly pointed out that it is the perfect size for the amount of liquid he wanted. It was still funny.

Seeming to just realize he is drinking out of a Disney Princess cup.



Super Sunday

After Church, I drove down to the parentals to spend the night in preparation for a dentist's appointment tomorrow. Grandma and Kevin were there and we had a fun time chatting about travel. At one point, grandma said she would help me go to South Africa. It shocked all of us to silence, and now I'm not sure if she was serious or not. If serious? Then Africa here I come!

Dana's family came over and Kevin and Dana played Rook against mom and I. I got the Rook ALL eight hands and so we killed them! It was 500 to 130 and not even worthy of gloating because you just felt bad for them. We all watched a movie afterward together and had a nice family night.

Jodie letting me play. She was very tolerant.

She even let me blow up her nose! It took a lot of coaxing though.

Felix Fun

Amy and Amanda dropped Jen off at the airport at 8 in the morning before swinging by my place. I missed their text because I was deeply engrossed in some relaxation exercises (a.k.a. sleep), so they came up AGAIN in the evening to spend some time with me (a.k.a. get hot chocolate from Hatch's). Amy and I were able to drag Amanda to Winger's and then we went to see a movie (The Dilemma - kind of blah).

I got a call from Jenny saying she and Nate went to another Spanish missionary discussion. This time they sang "Families Can Be Together Forever" and made the mother cry. I think its hard on Nate though to not be able to understand what is being said for an hour and a half.

Terror in the Night

I was awakened during the night to the sounds of footsteps down my apartment hallway. They stopped at my bedroom door and I could hear breathing. I was absolutely terrified! I ran through in my head if I should pretend to be asleep or jump up swinging and fight my way out of the situation. HUGE rush of adrenaline kicked in and my breathing sped up so that the breaths were rasping. I figured that was a dead give away that I was awake, so I actually resolved myself to not making it through the attack, and decided to face it head on. I turned over in bed and that's when the sheet I was sleeping under moved away from my head and the noises went away. Yep, I scared myself almost to death. In my defense, my heartbeats can be seen in various pulse-points on my body now that I've been having my heart issues. Just the other day you could count my heartbeats out with the pulse going in my shoulder as it moved my entire shirt. So, apparently my pulse was strong enough on my head by my ear, that it was rustling the sheets so that it sounded like someone was in my room breathing. There was so much adrenaline in my system, that I couldn't fall back asleep and ended up laying there for two hours before I had to get up and ready for work. Terrifying! But, now I know that if I'm ever attacked...I expect to die.

Group Lunch

We did a bit of a work reunion lunch today. A group of us headed over to the SL Temple cafeteria to have lunch with an old temple department employee, Ryan. A few Temple employees joined us as well and it was a good time. White suit...orange lunchbox, need I say more?

I've gotten my hands on more pictures from our time in D.C. and a few from right before we got there and had to post them!

Matthew giving a big cheese!

Wish I could buy that kid and
take him through checkout!



Opening presents



Getting ready to take the Arlington Cemetery tour.



Boggle night. Guess who won? Guillotine after.

Grrr!

Yes I did just see my cardiologist. Yes my next appointment isn't for another six months. AND yes, I did just have another heart episode of dizzy and faintness with nausea which lasted for two hours even though I haven't had one of those for over four months and the cardiologist thought we had that under control. Grrr!

Doctor, Doctor, Give Me the News...

I took the day off from work today to go to the doctors - Dentist, Cardiologist, and Podiatrist.

Dentist:  No I do NOT drink coffee, tea, Coke, or Pepsi. I can't explain the staining either. Or the cavities. Follow-up visit in one week.

Cardiologist:  Thanks to the medication, we have been able to get my blood pressure up to 120/80. Yay! - no fainting, dizzy spells, nausea, or headaches for four months now. A new diagnosis though of skipping heartbeats. I'm supposed to just deal with the pain of the missed heartbeats. Doable now that I know there aren't any long-term effects because of it.

Podiatrist:  Fourteen shots, two newly ordered orthodics, and all calluses removed later...I'm walking with a limp and have a follow-up visit in three weeks. Ugh.

On the bright-side, I was taken to see the Carl Bloch display at BYU between appointments. I loved the unique perspectives of some of the paintings such as the one where Christ was removed from the cross after his cruxification or the angel comforting Christ in Gethsamane. Surprise, surprise...I cried.

I also got to eat at Tucano's. Jodie made it over from work so we (dad and mom) lunched with her. I got to tell Jodie about our sliding on the ice adventure from earlier in the morning. I got yelled at because the parentals thought I was doing it on purpose, plus a Sh**! from my mom when she realized it was ice and we were sideways out of control. Since we made it out alive...HILARIOUS!

Indexing Loser

My ward had a four month indexing challenge. The top ten indexers would win a stay at our bishop's Deer Valley condo and each would get a day's ski pass to Park City resort. I indexed over 7,000 names and came in 13th. The winner did 49,000 names. She is physically disabled and indexes each day instead of going to work.  Very commendable if you ask me. But NOT if it interferes with me winning! Who is going to use her ski pass??? I was going to take Jeremy skiing for the day; looks like I'm going to have to pay for it now.  :-(

Sleepy Saturday

Ever wanted to just spend the day in bed but didn't have the time? AWESOME Saturday!

Sarah Joy Sleepover

Sarah came up for a night out and sleepover since she had to go to work in Draper early Saturday morning. We went to see the movie Country Strong with Gwyneth Paltrow. I'd had to buy one of the songs on iTunes the night before in preparation and LOVE the song - 'Give in to Me'. The movie was good except - and this is a disclaimer that if you don't want to know the ending to this movie, you'd better stop reading NOW - Gwyneth DIES in the end! She gives a stellar final performance at the Dallas show and then offs herself in a drug overdose. Talk about disappointing! It was fun spending time with Sarah though.

Hee Hee Hee

When we were in New York, I left my empty banana flavored Snapple bottle on Ashley's shelf where she collects bottles. I wondered how long it would be before she noticed. Hee, hee, hee. She just found it, and LOVES it! The event even made her blog. I thought it would be a funny surprise...and make her think about me even after we were gone. Success!

Holiday? or Not...

We had a work holiday today...or did we? It's been so long since I've been to work that I was unsure if it was really a holiday or not. There was brief consideration about going in just to make sure. I resisted the impulse and went to the library and grocery store instead.

Home Again

Still not unpacked.

Bad Choice

Our flight home was overbooked and the airline offered $400 travel dollars, an overnight hotel stay, meal vouchers, and transportation if volunteers would stay until the next day for a different flight home. Did we take it? NO! I'm still kicking myself. especially with the screaming. baby. on the way home.



Out With the Old

We decided to head back down to the South Ferry stopped we'd missed before and so we walked around the Financial District a bit before hitting the Bodies Exhibit down by the Pier. A fascinating experience though I think mom was a little grossed out. Interested in the heart exhibits though. Then some more shopping at the Pier...including a nice NY hat for me from Lids.

We walked through empty streets NYE until we got up to 38th street where the crowds became so thick that we couldn't go any further. We watched the lights from there and kicked the old year out and welcomed the new in. We even managed to see the window displays at Macy's on the walk back to Ashley's apartment. It was a wild and crazy night. Fun to experience...once in a lifetime.