Seminar Prep

I went over to the JSMB with some people from work in preparation for the Temple Engineers' Seminar coming up in May. We measured rooms and tables, taped out places on the floor, and did head counts, etc. I had no idea so many things are involved!

After, MaryAnn, Karen and I went across the street to Hagermann's for lunch. Have I mentioned before how much I love the Pomodoro sandwich?

Family Name Sealings

Mom and dad, Dana and Deborah, Lori and Cody, and I went to the Mt. Timpanogos Temple to do family name sealings all together. I even drove down to PG mid-week to do it which is almost unheard of for me! It's always nice to sit as a family in white in such a great setting. Afterward back at the house, Dad and Cody gave me a blessing: my health concerns will be resolved in the near future, I've been promised many things in my Patriarchal Blessing that are still going to happen and I need to prepare myself, and that I'm going to end up in a much different place from anything that I could have hoped for.

I've got my hands on some more family pictures. Tiffany is pretty cute in these! I'm not sure what to say about Dana...

Area Presidency Meetings

With Conference coming up this weekend, all the Area Presidencies from around the world are in town to attend. This means primarily two things:  1-Absolutely no parking in both the COB and under the Conference Center and 2-They all come in to the Temple Department for meetings with our TD Executive Committee. My co-worker Laralynn and I have been...we'll use the word - 'obligated'...to set up for these meetings and to rush in between each one to refresh the ice water and snacks and to clear away garbage. That's my Master's Degree at work for you! Eight meetings in one day sure made it go by fast though!

Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling my best today. My fingers and lips even turned blue at one point and my hands felt like icicles! That was a new symptom but was duly reported.  The pictures are as the blue was finally starting to fade.

I went to my visit teachee's home to drop off cleaning supplies since she is moving. Even though I wasn't feeling well and said I had to go...it was two hours later before I felt like I could leave. I even went out and bought moving boxes for her since no stores would give me any for free.

Snow Day?

The difference between a snow day at the end of March and one at the end of November is that the air is too warm to let the snow actually stick to the roads so we did not get sent home from work early. The injustice of it all - especially since it snowed for a good seven hours straight!

Bracket Finals

So, even though March madness isn't over, our entire pool is out with our brackets due to the crazy upsets of teams in the finals. Turns out my fake bracket scored 53 points while my real one was only 40. I came in sixth with that fake one. I blame BYU. So crazy though!

The Big Day

Lori, Cody, Amy, and I went and played racquetball this morning. With Amy on my team, I definitely did not have to play as much as last week. She's changed from how we used to play back in the 'olden days' and is much more competitive. That worked in my favor though since she was on my team. I got hit by Lori's return serve racquetball. It. Did. Not. Feel. Good. I tried taking a picture of it, but due to location I had to get a pretty close shot of it so it's hard to see. There's a raised yellow welt in the middle, a band about an inch wide around that of redness, then the bruising starts around that. The whole thing is larger than my entire fist and actually causes the muscles around my hip joint to ache. I soaked in mom and dad's big tub for an hour and a half afterward which didn't really make the bruise feel better, but was extremely relaxing for the rest of me!

The party got started as soon as dad returned home from the temple. We had a dinner, celebrated the anniversary first, then got down to the kids' present exchange. Jenny, Brett, and Nate played some of my parents' favorite old songs that we all sang along to. Even my grandma sang and she doesn't even do that at Church! Brett got off on the last song and Jenny kept trying to coach him on the right notes while still singing, and then finally she said, 'just quit'. It got a good laugh out of everyone and fortunately was caught on camera for posterity.



Pie and Poems

Mom made dad pumpkin pie for their anniversary. It made the whole house smell so good that I tried talking her in to letting us sample pieces that night. She didn't want to because it was for their anniversary day, but when I offered up my present for them early in exchange, she caved. She can never resist a good surprise though she professes to hate them!

They liked getting the restaurant gift certificate and said they'd need to come stay at my place in SL now to go to it (I suggested bringing me along). Then I read the poem to them and they started crying after the first two lines. When I finished, they then read it on their own and started crying again. Guess it was a success!

I accompanied my mom to a baby shower in her Spanish ward and then went with my dad to the store for his last minute anniversary acquisitions. Always fun to have some one-on-one time with them.

Retirement Social

Bart Smith's retirement social was today (his son is the drummer for Royal Bliss and got me the autographed drum sticks). It was held at the chapel in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and then refreshments were in the Relief Society room there. I played prelude and postlude music on the piano in the chapel and then again while everyone enjoyed the food. It was so nerve wracking in the chapel! It kept getting quieter and quieter as it went to start and then there was silence as our general authorities came in and sat up on the stand. It felt like my face was on fire! Then afterward in the Relief Society room, Elder Oaks and Elder Nelson arrived. That wasn't so bad because it was a more informal setting and people were talking at the same time so I wasn't so on the spot. Lots of food! But then, that's characteristic for a party in the Temple Department.

Preparations for Mom and Dad

Saturday will be mom and dad's 40th wedding anniversary. I wanted to do something a bit different than usual, so I wrote them a poem reflecting their life together. It has been put into a very nice frame and will be given to them along with a certificate to a restaurant that I know they like (maybe they'll take me with them?).

iPod Woes

I found an iPod jack in my car. The car I've owned for three and a half years and bought two separate FM transmitters for so I could listen to my iPod in the car. Sixty dollars later, my music woes have been solved by a simple $9 cord that plugs directly into my speaker system. If I wasn't so happy to have the jack, I would cry.

White Spot on the Brain

I had my follow-up doctor's visit to get the results of my hearing, balance, and neurological MRI testing. My hearing is perfect and balance is equal. There is no real concerns about the MRI of my brain except that I have a white spot. This is more common in people over the age of 50 and usually signifies some type of health problem but could be any number of things so they still don't know what's wrong with me.

I go back to my cardiologist in the next week or two to get the results of the halter monitor and to possibly have another recommended test (from the two doctors collaborating), a bubble echocardiogram where they'll inject me with contrast and do an ultrasound while making me 'push' to see if my heart is throwing tiny clots up into my brain - meaning I have a PFO which is a hole between the chambers in my heart. The other proposed diagnose is that I have migraine induced dizziness where the migraine manifests in a block of my ear canals causing me to go dizzy rather than being manifested by a headache. Guess we'll see!

Fake Bracket

My fake bracket that I created as a joke because I was allowed to submit two entries in our temple department March madness pool, has me in second place. Second place! My real one is like 25th. Go figure! Here's to BYU all the way!

Winning!

Lori and I went down to Utah Valley Regional hospital this morning to visit Jenica and her new baby McKenna.  She was born on the 18th at 5 in the morning and is 6 lbs 15 oz.

From there we headed directly to the AF Rec for racquetball. Since I haven't played in ages, I was pretty pleased with myself to score the first few points each game so that briefly I was 'winning' to put it in Charlie Sheen's terms. Of course, I've been on a severely restricted calorie, no sugar, health plan, was hooked up to my heart monitor still, and hadn't exercised like that in awhile so there was a point at the end after going up the stairs at the rec that I saw spots and almost fainted. I had to lean over a half wall that goes around the track until the black in my vision receded and my shaking hands calmed enough for me to make it out to my car to sit down. It was a close one!

Jodie and I met up at the movies after that for a double-header. We both hadn't been to the movies in awhile so we wanted to make up for it...plus we had gift cards so it was 'free'. We saw Little Red Riding Hood and the Adjustment Bureau.

Dana's family was over at mom's when we got there so mom and I played Guillotine with Bailey and Taylor. It was pretty fun and they picked it up quickly...and fortunately Kevin wasn't there so it was a good time had by all!

Letdown

I did not win the Today Show trip to London with my video.  :-(

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I'm now back on the social committee at work and we had our first social of the year (that I've participated with). I wrote funny jokes on the white board in the room for people to read while loading up on treats. Here's one of my favorites:

Muldoon lived alone in the Irish countryside with only a pet dog for company.  One day the dog died, and Muldoon went to the parish priest and asked, 'Father, me dog is dead. Could ya' be saying' a mass for the poor creature?'

Father Patrick replied, 'I'm afraid not; we cannot have services for an animal in the church. But there are some Baptists down the lane, and there's no tellin' what they believe. Maybe they'll do something for the creature.'

Muldoon said, 'I'll go right away Father. Do ya' think €5,000 is enough to donate to them for the service?'

Father Patrick exclaimed, 'Sweet Mary and Joseph. Why didn't ya tell me the dog was Catholic?'

I edited the last exclamation to 'good heavens' when I wrote it on the board, but you get the picture.  =D

Lesson Learned

I figured out the second hand position on the cello. I'm pretty excited about it as it's opened up all these new songs!

March Madness

March Madness is upon us. Do I really care who wins a basketball tournament? No! BUT, I am very competitive and like to out pick my friends on our brackets. Last year was my first time doing it and I didn't do too bad. I had a very scientific approach of choosing teams I'd actually heard of before. This year I'm a bit more informed and we got to submit two brackets so we'll see how I do. I have a 'real' one of who I think will really win, then a 'fake' one that I think would be funny if it came to pass - like BYU beating Notre Dame and Temple, etc.

Last year's champion was Linda Clawson and she got to hold on to the trophy with her name on it for a year. I'm pretty sure she randomly chose every other team for the win and came out on top. My name is next!

Off Balance

Daylight savings was this weekend and I lost an hour of sleep. That didn't prevent me from presenting myself down near St. Mark's Hospital by 6:30 a.m. to have a neurological MRI done. They gave me a gift card to Target as a special thank you for being willing to take the early spot. I drove directly from there to Draper for my next appointment which was a VCG balance test.

They put these goggles on you that have cameras inside them to track the movements of your eyes while they make you watch different things, move around, and blow cold and hot air on your ear drums. You get to rest between tests to get over the dizziness and nausea that ensues so you're fresh for the next one. While doing the air tests on the ear drums, the tech had me respond to different concentration tests. First I had to say a girls name for every letter of the alphabet, then a boys, then name all the states I could remember, etc. During the last test she asked, "Where is your favorite place to visit in the world?" I responded without hesitation, "London". She then replied, "Oh, you speak Italian?" My long hesitation and confusion must have shown because she then said, "Don't they speak Italian in London?" I am sincerely hoping she ran the tests correctly for the doctor to analyze. I also shut my eyes so the camera wouldn't record the reaction I was having to her words.

Brittany's Married!

I have officially decided that late weddings are the BEST! Brittany's sealing wasn't until 1:40 p.m. at the Salt Lake Temple and the timing was perfect. Sleep in, linger over getting ready, sealing, pictures immediately after, straight to the luncheon, and then on to the reception. I'm going to recommend this to everyone!

Derek Metcalf, Brittany's grandpa from New Zealand AND a previous Managing Director of the Temple Department, performed the sealing.

First of Many

My dad came up to take me to see the ear doctor...brother to my new cardiologist. Apparently they have another brother who is also a doctor. Fortunately I haven't had to go see him yet. I lived through this one, but now have to go to two more.

Brittany had a wedding shower tonight. There could have been an inappropriate cake at the party thanks to a particular friend who helped plan the party. The mom, Julie, was NOT pleased. I took a picture of Brittany cutting the cake (custard filled) but have now decided I don't feel comfortable even posting it here or on Facebook. Guess those Mormon girls just can't have a wild Hen Party!

I decided I could add an EDITED photo.

Pimpernel

Debbie at work was able to trade the missed tickets from Monday's Scarlet Pimpernel, in for ones tonight. Unfortunately, the seats were up in the balcony so it wasn't the same experience. We're talking about a girl who has to go early to get front row seats at Wicked every time she's in London. I like to 'smell...the...sweat!' Can't help the movie quotes!

Mission Memories

I finally posted all the pictures from my mission to Facebook. When I checked my email afterward, there were 60 new emails all from people commenting and tagging the pictures. Glad people are getting into the reminiscing. I certainly did!

30 Days and 30 Nights

You realize exactly how long a month is when you're hooked up to a machine that you have to carry around with you 24/7.  Nine days down with this heart monitor and only 21 more to go.

Scarlet Pimpernel Disappointment

I had second row tickets to go and see the Scarlet Pimpernel tonight in Bountiful. The heavy snowfall and slick roads changed that plan...though I did try to go first. I couldn't make it up the driveway out of my parking garage and slid sideways toward the barrier. I stopped before hitting it, then slid backwards until I could reverse and go backward through the other garage door.

Brett and my dad created a family PackShare dropbox account so everyone can have access to pictures and videos that each other takes. Some of the baptism ones are up (plus one Christmas video that I can't help but share as well).



How cute are these boys!

Confirmation

Everyone made the drive again to Heber for Micah's confirmation. Jeremy got to participate as the deacon holding the microphone. He also made sure he was the one who passed the sacrament to us, and then he bore his testimony during the meeting. He seems so grown-up now! Especially with his deep voice, which he loves to sing low with. He likes a girl in his ward. Once he knew I wasn't going to embarrass him, he said to keep a look-out for a girl with blond hair that has the prettiest face he's ever seen in his whole life. Unfortunately we were on the front row so I couldn't find her.

I loved seeing the circle of priesthood holders in our family go up for the confirmation. It's always a thrilling sight!

Jenny gave me a photo that was taken back over Nate's birthday when they first got their fooseball table. This shot was taken after an amazing score when the two of us were beating Brett and Jeremy.

True happiness at a good score. Wish the eyes were open!

Micah's Baptism

The whole family met up in Heber for Micah's baptism. I went early to practice our musical number and then we did the performance before the actual baptism. A side note to remember before my next concert...try to pick a venue where a dress isn't required! It's pretty hard to hike a skirt up to grip a cello with knees while still being modest.

Micah was so cute is his little white outfit! The program was really nice too. Jeremy had been asked by Micah to share his testimony and it was sweet. None of Jenny's boys give routine prayers or testimonies. You can tell they think about what they're saying and are so sincere. Yeah, I cried. What can I say?!! Their bishop had Brett stand at the front with his five boys while he talked about the priesthood these young men would all have and the blessing it would be for their families as well. He was right about them being good examples!

I made crack bars for the luncheon afterward. Nathan asked if it was supposed to look like worms coming up out of a crack in the ground or something. After I could stop laughing, we renamed them. (I don't want to contribute to any delinquency!) My vote was for T cakes, but Nate thinks it could be confused again as tea cakes. Needless to say they are now T bars.

Laser Love

There was a super special CityDeals offer a few weeks ago for laser-hair removal. So good in fact, that it couldn't be turned down. Six sessions of leg hair/plus another area removal for $99? My legs are now smooth and no pain.

Today Show Entry

I finished my video for the Today Show contest, trying to win a trip to London over the royal wedding. Two round-trip, first-class flights from your hometown to London, 4 days and 3 nights in a hotel there, $150 per person each day, etc. Only the finalist videos will be shown, be voted upon by the general public, and then a winner chosen. I'm keeping my fingers' crossed!



Royal Bliss...in More Ways Than One

A friend that I work with has a son (Jake Smith) who is the drummer for Royal Bliss. He gave me some beat-up autographed drum sticks that I am pretty excited about!

I've also discovered that my favorite morning news outlet, The Today Show, is doing a contest to send someone to England over The Royal Wedding. I'm putting together a two-minute video saying why I should be the one to go. Everyone at work is chipping in to help and allowed themselves to be briefly filmed saying 'London!' Depending on how it turns out...I might consider posting it here.