Nostalgia

I took a walk down memory lane last Friday while on a trip to Idaho for my niece's graduation. I love Rexburg. I am so glad that my niece decided to go to school there just so I could have the excuse of visiting and reliving my glory days. Even though in my time it was just the 2 year Ricks College and now it is a blossoming University campus the spirit of Ricks still lives on. In my day we used to say that BYU was the church's university but that Ricks was the Lord's school. I still think that statement rings true. BYU has its great quailities but it will never outdo BYU-I where feeling the spirit is concerned. I think that is the biggest reason that I have such deep feelings for my Alma Mater.

Ricks was the place where I essentially "grew up". Where I learned about the ups and downs of life and how to handle them. Not only was my education secular but it was an education in life. It was where I learned how to study the scriptures and where I gained a true testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was where I learned how to deal with terrible room mates and how to nurture lasting friendships that I still hold dear. I will forever look back at my time there with great fondness.

I don't remember much of the Commencement address because I was too busy thinking about all the wonderful times I had spent in the Hart Auditorium. All the devotionals , firesides and performances I had attended and participated in. Same goes for the Barrus concert hall where the Convocation was held. That is a special place for me and I couldn't help but remember all the times I had been on that very stage performing. My very last concert at Ricks was held there and that in itself is one of the most cherished memories of my life.

So to my Alma Mater I say thank you. Thanks for all the wonderful memories and all the knowledge I gained. Thank you for all the wonderful friendships I made and all the life lessons I learned. I will always think of that time in my life as the most important because it is essentially the time that shaped me into who I am today. I only hope that one day my own children will have the opportunity to experience what I did (well, the good stuff anyway) and attend that great university.

And the Stars Aligned

There are few times in life (at least my life) when the stars align and things work out more perfect than you could have imagined. Monday night was one of those nights for me. It may not seem like much to most but for my honey and I it was marvelous.

Two months ago I bought a single ticket to the American Idols concert. (You all know how much I LOVE AI!) The main reason for the single ticket was my husbands selflessness in wanting me to have a great seat and at $68 a pop that meant we could only afford one ticket. Even though he himself is a fan of the show, he was willing to let me go by myself and have a great seat.

So Monday night the plan was this: meet at Chili's by the E-Center for a birthday dinner for Lili (don't worry, her birthday was the next day, I would never skip out on my baby's birthday to go to a concert)after picking my dad up from the airport and then "I" would take the girls and my dad home and I would head off to the concert. Lucky for us we had my ever friendly father with us who struck up a conversation with some lady who just happened to have 2 extra tickets...and....she wanted to GIVE them to us. FREE! OK...so what to do...Again, my dad stepped up to the plate offering to take the girls with him to my sister's house so that we could go to the concert.

I was so excited that my honey was going to get to come with me only, I was not so willing to give up my very good seat to go sit in the back corner with him. (I know, I'm so selfish aren't I?) So again with the star alignment thing, it just so happens that whoever was supposed to sit next to me didn't show up so by the time Carly sang Ivan was able to come sit by me and there he stayed. It was so fun to have such a wonderful time with my honey there with me. We haven't been on a date in so long and to get to go to a concert together, well, pretty much unheard of. It was a wonderful night and we both had a great time. My favorite part was when David A cried because he was so moved by all the love he felt from the crowd (seriously, it was crazy loud for him).

So here are a few pics from the concert. I may upload a video later but it takes so long and I am very tired so it will have to wait.

Proud Aunt

I just had to post this little video of my niece Heidi performing at the "Little Miss Grantsville" pageant. I had never heard her really sing before and was just blown away by her talent. She is only 10. I know, I could be a little biased because she's me niece so you'll have to judge for yourself. By the way, she came in second. (We all think it was because her older sister had just won the Miss Grantsville title) =) Anyway, enjoy!

Too long

I just noticed that it has been over a month since I blogged. How pathetic. There really has just been nothing to blog about in my opinion. We have had nothing exciting happening which I guess can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you look at it. I guess I should stop waiting to blog about our ever elusive family vacation which by the way will never happen. Every time we start thinking about going somewhere we remember that we don't have any money for a vacation. I have tried to come up with something cheap we could do like camping but it winds up it wouldn't be cheap since we have no camping gear to speak of. (Unless you count a 2'x 2' kids tent as camping gear)Then there is always the thought of the generic trip to California in the back of my mind. There is so much to do there and a free place to stay at my sisters, but oh yeah, it would cost us gazillions of dollars in gas just to get there. So anyway, there will most likely be no family vacation blog this summer. Blogs about being stuck at home (mostly because I'm too cheap to spend the gas to go anywhere) or an occasional trip to the pool will have to do unless by some miracle something exciting happens for us.

So this is what we've been up to the last little while. My niece was crowned Miss Grantsville. I'm not quite sure what it means since she doesn't get to go to the Miss Utah pageant but none the less, kind of exciting to have a local celebrity in the family. "I" gets to work from home on Fridays. He works 4 9 hour days and then 4 hours on Fridays. We love it because it saves us about 20 bucks in gas a week and we get to hang out together an extra day. Lili started gymnastics and not that I'm a proud mom or anything, but she is a prodigy. =) OK, maybe not a prodigy but she loves it and she is actually very good. All that jumping on my bed has really helped her have a step up on the trampoline skills.

I have 4 baby tomatoes on my tomato plant(and a baby pepper too). I am so excited because I have never grown anything before. Also, in addition to my Monday group (which is now on Wednesdays) I'm part of a scrap booking group that meets every week and a walking group that goes walking at the High School track every evening.(Side note: thanks to the walking and eating really healthy the last couple of months I have lost 20 pounds, yeah!!)

We also recently acquired a Wii. I know, you're probably thinking we could've gone on that vacation with the money we spent on the Wii, but actually, I'm pretty sure the Wii was cheaper, a lot cheaper. Anyway, we have had great fun with the games and the girls even get into them. Lili is actually quite a pro at boxing (neither Ivan nor I can beat her) and she's not bad at tennis either. Guitar Hero is my game of choice and I'm not too bad at it. I have even mastered a few songs in the "Hard" category.

So folks, that is about all that has been going on with us. I know, boring. I really am hoping for something more exciting to blog about in the next little while. Until then this will have to do.