Fascinated

Lately, I have been fascinated by this book:


I thought for a while before deciding on the correct word, and I've decided fascinated is the best way to describe it. In 1993, my grandma compiled my grandpa's journals, pictures, and other significant items from his life (certificates, newspaper clippings, letters) into this book. Sadly, I don't believe I paid much attention to it until lately. I used to just flip through and look at pictures, usually for pictures of my dad. But when I was in Salt Lake in March I began reading my grandma's book (she compiled one more recently) and decided to bring my copy of my grandpa's book home (I don't have my own copy of my grandma's book or hers would've come home with me too...).

Now I read a portion of it almost every day, and once I pick it up it's very hard to put down. Generally after reading a funny story, I feel the urge to pick up the phone and call my dad just to tell him I read it (he sat through some of this retelling on Sunday night), but generally I don't since he already lived all these stories...

What's interesting is his entries are generally very factual in nature (he was an engineer after all) and at some points entire years are skipped, but I can't seem to get enough of it. Maybe it's because I never got the chance to really know my grandpa--he suffered from Parkinson's that started before I was born and he died when I was only 9. Maybe it's because I know my aunts and uncles and it's fun to see the journey they took to get to who they are now. Maybe it's because I love remembering their house in Dallas as he describes the phases of construction. Maybe it's because it's fun to picture my dad as a 3-year-old playing with his dad's tools. But mostly I think it's because I'm fascinated with the man that was my grandpa--the love he had for my grandma (shown through many wonderful letters), the love he had for his children (shown by the details he included in his entries), and the love he had for his grandchildren (as far as I've read, only one has been born, but I can sense it even from just one).

It makes me sad that I never had the chance to really know this man in person, to hear him retell these stories, to see him interact with his family. But I am thankful that I have this book to give me a glimpse into his life and who he was...and I'm glad I still have 300 pages to go!

Side note: The book also gives me some encouragement. My journal entries are a bit more sporadic than his were and he has better excuses for his lapses, but the fact that I still find so much joy in the entries he did make helps me realize that every little bit counts, even if it's only once a year!

More Mother's Day Love...

So after a delay of 1 hour and 45 minutes in Phoenix, we missed our connection in Dallas and the next available flight is now delayed 45 minutes. So, I will arrive in Lubbock around 11:30 when I was originally scheduled to arrive around 7:45...awesome.

In happy news, American Airlines gives you a whole can of soda...and they carry Dr. Pepper! The flight attendant was very annoyed because she only put a few DP's on the cart because apparently it's only a popular choice for flights originating in Texas (so she had to keep running back to the galley to get them)...then she said, "There must be a lot of Texans on this flight..." My father would be proud :)

Happy Mother's Day?

I hope you are all having a wonderful mother's day--spending time with the ones you love and expressing your appreciation for the wonderful women in your lives. I, however, am sitting at the airport....waiting for a plane that has now been delayed an hour, which means I'll probably miss my connection, which means I won't get to my final destination until 10 or so instead of 7:30...thanks American. It's bad enough that I have to spend my entire Sunday travelling, and all of this Saturday sitting in training, but now I have to waste my time sitting at the airport. Awesome.

Anyway, we did an accelerated Mother's Day this year. We took Shane's mom out to dinner last night and had a wonderful Skype celebration with my parents this morning. At least we were able to talk to both of them--I even got a present to my mom ON TIME! I'm sure she was proud that I finally learned to plan ahead.

Take some time to love your mothers today. I wish I could. Okay...I'm done feeling sorry for myself.

P.S. Still no ring... :(

A plea...

A plea to the little elf that snuck into our house Monday night and "moved" my wedding ring:
Please, please, please put it back where you found it tonight! We won't be mad and we won't try and catch you...we just want it back.

Confused? Let me explain the events of Monday afternoon and evening...

5:50 pm - Before cutting up the chicken for our shake 'n bake (yes, the most convenient way to produce fast, flavorful chicken), I remove my watch and rings (who wants chicken guts on their ring??). I place them in the far corner of the counter, near Shane's plant.

7:00 pm - Talk to my parents (not related to the story, just an event of the evening).

8:40 pm - I pull in the garage after working out. I notice that Shane left the garage open (weird). I press the button as I walk in the house (I swear the garage went down).

9:10 pm - We watch 24 with Hilary.

9:55 pm - As I'm putting together some things for our lunches, I look over at my watch/rings (still in the same place) and think to myself, "I wonder if I"ll remember that's where they are in the morning while I get ready... Of course I will! I'll see them while I eat breakfast." And I leave them where they are...

10:15 pm - Hilary leaves (apparently our garage door is wide open at this time...we have no idea).

11:00 pm - Off to bed...

1:30 am - I wake up (rare for me)...quick trip to the bano...back to sleep

5:00 am - Doorbell rings...Shane shuffles out of the room...doorbell rings again. Shane opens the door. I hear "Do you know your garage door is open?" I come out of the room to find out what's going on. Apparently a police officer has been called to our neighborhood after someone saw a "suspicious person" walking down an alley down the street. On his way out of our neighborhood (after not finding anyone), he noticed our garage door and wondered if maybe the "suspicious person" had opened it and wandered in (or just took advantage of the open door). Shane looks through the house and closes the garage door while the policeman searches our backyard. Nothing is found. We go back to bed (which means I lay wide awake staring out our open bedroom door to see if anyone walks by...yes, I'm paranoid).

7:20 am - While making breakfast, I reach for my watch/rings and notice my watch is in the exact same place I left it, but WHERE ARE MY RINGS?? I look at Shane to see if he's playing a joke (the first time he lost his wedding ring, he told his coworkers he thought I had hid it to teach him a lesson...). He promises he didn't do anything with it. We search for a bit, but both have to leave for work.

We have searched and searched and searched for the ring... we looked through the garbage, we put away all of the dishes that were drying on the counter, Shane felt around our garbage disposal, I crawled around the floor with a flashlight looking in and under everything it could've rolled under, we've looked in places that would've required me to put them there (for example, a bag of Boy Scout badges up on top of our entertainment center). We're still thinking of where they could've gone, but have no idea where else they could be.

Shane and his dad say there's no way the "suspicious person" could've wandered in our house, walked past everything that we had out (car keys, a computer bag, purse, TV, etc.) and only end up taking my ring (our kitchen is the farthest room away from our garage door). I just have no idea where else it could've gone... The only theory I have to explain the "suspicious person's" actions would be that our kitchen is the brightest room in our house at night (thanks to the wonderful orange KMart lights) so maybe my ring was the only thing he saw. The whole thought of someone being in my house (even if nothing actually happened) is quite terrifying. Last night I checked that the garage was closed 2 times before going to bed and locked the door from our garage into the house...

We haven't declared it completely lost yet, but I'm running out of places to look. Any suggestions?

Vacation!!

Actually, it's been a week since I got back from my vacation and I'm already longing for another one...

I was lucky enough to have some time off and a free plane ticket to head to Salt Lake to see my family and friends. Shane had to stay behind in AZ because of limited vacation days (due to scouting commitments).

During my trip, I...

...caught up with friends! I went to the 3D (Dinner, Devotions, Discussion) at the Saeed's, which brought back wonderful high school memories, lots of old friends, and (of course) delicious Persian food. I went and visited Tricia and Gavin (sadly, since Gavin was our only hope of getting a picture together, I only have a picture of myself that Gavin took to document the occasion). And I spent a wonderful evening with Carly, Natalie, Lahdan, and Megan...the evening was so grand, it warrants its own blog post (coming soon...), but here's a little sneak peek into the evening.

...spent a lot of time with my family. We watched Jared sing in a barbershop quartet of sorts, had many Easter egg hunts with Vera, ran around the house singing kid songs with Vera, blew bubbles with Vera, thought of names for the new baby Richards (Jared & Jessie's soon-to-be boy), ate dessert with the Castles, ate at Costa Vida. I ate lunch with my parents at Greek Souvlaki (yum!!) and dinner with them at Hire's one night (I have to catch up on the Salt Lake restaurants when in town). Mostly, we just spent time together, catching up on things. Sadly, most of the pictures taken during our time together involved Vera. The following picture is one of the few I have with someone other than just me and Vera in them. We were blowing bubbles...

[I know, not the most flattering picture, but the one of my mom and me is even worse...]

...got to go snowboarding (see previous post).

...saw fresh snow three of the days I was there.

...shoveled over 4 inches of snow...IN MARCH (the updates made to my parents' house added a lot of new sidewalks to shovel).

...did a lot of shopping with my mom. Technically we were shopping for my birthday (in June), but we ended up with a little more than expected so some of my birthday presents came home with me on the plane :)

...started and finished The Hunger Games. I didn't know it was a series and I'm a little upset that I didn't get the closure I wanted, but I definitely enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next one.

...started (but nowhere near finished) my grandma's life history. She had her journals along with various pictures, documents, and other items of interest from her life published into a book. I started reading it and found it very hard to put it down at times. If only I had my own copy...for now, I'm working on my grandpa's (her husband) book instead.

Then, I got on a plane and returned to the 80+ degree weather of Phoenix. Even with everything I was able to do, it turned out to be a wonderfully relaxing vacation. If only we had more of those!

A (Half) Day on the Slopes

Yesterday my dad and I decided to head up the canyon so I could have a chance to snowboard once this year before I head back to Phoenix. I didn't go at all last year and only went once the year before, so we decided that we'd only do a half day.

We started the morning with breakfast at Silver Fork Lodge...eating pancakes and sipping hot chocolate next to the fireplace was so nice! I'd never been there before, but if you're ever in Big Cottonwood Canyon and in need of some food and good atmosphere, you should check it out (here's a link to their website).

After breakfast, we headed up to Brighton. We got there right as the lifts started running and the parking lot was EMPTY--we got front row parking. I haven't been to Brighton in years, but it's the resort where I learned to ski and snowboard, so it was fun riding down trails I used to know. Plus, fresh snow had fallen on Tuesday and Wednesday and it was pretty cold up in the canyon so the conditions were much better (and a lot less slushy) than normal spring-skiing.

My dad started me down a nice, simple green which I appreciated. And surprisingly, I remebered how to snowboard (apparently it is just like riding a bike, which my dad had been saying all morning). By the end of the morning, I had worked my way back up to blacks, which made me happy. Sadly, my legs were SCREAMING by noon (which was when our passes expired). I can't believe I used to do this two times a week for almost every week of ski season. I couldn't even make it through one day!! Obviously my life sitting behind a computer doesn't keep me in as good shape as my life of dancing and snowboarding did back in high school and college...growing up is so depressing sometimes! Anyway, here are some pictures from the day:

It was sunny and beautiful!! Some clouds rolled in, but they cleared out within 15 minutes. I'm glad I put on sunscreen because I still had a little sunburn at the end of the day.

This is my dad on the lift. Sadly, we didn't take a picture together...

This is me on the lift. I'm wearing a wonderful mis-matched combination of my various ski outfits throughout the years. My matching coat and hat were left in Phoenix...

This is a view down the lift. If you look closely, you'll notice that most chairs are empty or only have 1-2 people on them. This is how the entire day was for us. We only had to wait in line for a lift once, and that was for our last run of the day. For all the others, we unclipped and walked right on for the next availabe chair. It was awesome!

This is my dad holding my cute snowboard. It's the only board I've ever ridden (aside from the ones I initially learned on) and if you know me, you know I have a hard time with change. My dad informed me that I have most definitely outgrown this board. I have a really hard time picking up or maintaining speed and apparently that's due to my board, but I don't know if I can part with it!! For now, if I'm only going once or twice a year I think it'll be just fine :)

Anyway, yesterday was a wonderful day...thanks Dad for the fun!!

House Guests!!

I'm currently on vacation, and I'm hoping to post quite a few things to the blog but I'm planning to space them out a bit... Here's the first:


Last weekend, we had our first out-of-state (non-family) visitor!! My BYU roommate Joleen came down to catch a Cubs spring training game and then stayed with us for the rest of the weekend. She commented on the red rock she saw during the drive down, so we decided to spend Saturday in Sedona. We drove around, took some walks to look at the red rock, ate some yummy mexican food, and did a little shopping at Tlaquepaque. The rest of the weekend was spent catching up on life and watching lots of basketball games... Thanks, Joleen, for a fun weekend!!



Also, we had the pleasure of dog-sitting Sarge, Shane's brother's puggle. He's a very good dog and we had lots of fun having him at our house. Although he does associate our house with cats (our neighbor likes to feed stray cats), so he has a hard time relaxing when he stays with us.


In other news, the Cub Scouts were kind enough to share their Pinewood Derby track with the rest of the ward, so Shane and Tom decided to make cars to race...

They raced each other in the first heat, and it was close! I recorded the race (sorry for the quality, this was on my regular camera...)

In the end, Shane got 3rd Place with his 'Golden Brick.' The only car he lost to ended up winning the whole thing, so he felt good about his car-making skills.