Easter 2013

A few pictures from Easter.   

 

Poor little Lydia had a cold, and could barely breathe, yet she was still the sweetest and smiliest of babies.   Even when we were torturing her with the nasal bulb syringe thingie.    Bless her heart.  

 

Samuel had a grand time hunting for eggs, and coloring eggs, and eating candy...I think the eating candy part was his favorite.

 

All in all a successful Easter!

 

 

Autumnal Equinox

Happy Autumnal Equinox Everyone!

 

"The Autumnal Equinox - The word equinox comes from the Latin words for "equal night." The fall and spring equinoxes are the only days of the year in which the Sun crosses the celestial equator." (from The Old Farmer's Almanac)

I love all the seasons, but I really love fall.   I bought my first Honey Crisp apple yesterday, a sure sign of fall.   The trees are changing colors everywhere, including my patio, and I can start to feel a little crisp edge to the weather.   I love the idea of celebrating and giving thanks for a summer full of activities and bountiful harvests.   I love the anticipation of winter.   The excitement of guessing when the first snow will fall.   The comfort of knowing that one has a warm house to snuggle in to, to hibernate with your hot chocolate and cozy blankets while outside the world is muffled in white.

Plus I like my winter clothes better than my summer clothes.  

Remember my 'Summer Bucket List' and how I would report back on the Autumnal Equinox with a review of what had been successfully achieved and what had not?

Well today's the day of reckoning...

 

 

 

Go somewhere I have never been - done

 

Denmark and Sweden

17th-century Frederiksborg Castle - Denmark

Do something brave - done (kinda)

 

Can I count going to a new country by myself?  I wouldn't let myself count it, since doing that doesn't really scare me, so no bravery required.   But I don't have anything else.

 

Do something outside every day - done

I did go outside every day.   I know this may sound ridiculous, but when you work from home it is surprisingly easy to stay inside all day long.

Plant flowers - done

 

I planted red geraniums and one massive Bleeding Heart plant (thanks Mom).

 

Here are some flowers I saw on my trip, aren't they pretty?

 

Saturday Market in Apeldoorn

Take a road trip - done

 

 

 

Eat Popsicles - done

Keep heels smooth and lovely - done

Drink a lot of water - done

Hike a new trail - done

 

 

Donner nature trail.

 

 

 

And Donut Falls in Utah, but I haven't downloaded my pictures yet. You will just have to take my word for it. :)

 

Volunteer some time - fail

 

I did a few things for church, but nothing like I intended.  Frowny face for me.

Spend more time at Red Butte Garden - fail

 

I went once, and that was just to a concert.

 

Go to a concert - done

 

The Shins as Red Butte Garden

 

Keane at the Gallivan Center

Big Band Concert at Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen

 

See a play or musical - done

 

9 to 5:  The Musical

 

Wicked

Go to a sporting event - done

 

Real Salt Lake Soccer

Spend more time with friends - done

 

Go on a picnic - done

 

Swim - fail

No excuse either, since there is a pool just a building away from me.

Make a craft - fail

 

I bought the materials to make a wreath and never made it.

Save money for trips - done

 

California - June

 

Denmark and Sweden - August

 

Disneyland - October

Start Christmas shopping - done

 

About 1/2 done

Register to be an organ donor - done

 

Organ donor AND Bone Marrow donor lists

Do something educational - done

 

Traveling to different countries and touring historical buildings and museums seems to fulfill this task in my opinion.  But I also read quite a few classic pieces of literature (loving Thomas Hardy these days), watched several documentaries, attended a few guest lectures.

 

Kronborg Castle, the setting of Hamlet and a UNESCO World Heritage Site

 

Try a new restaurant - done

 

Several in Europe

 

and a few in SLC- most recently Vivace, where the food is divine.

Go to the Scottish Festival…eat some Haggis - done and fail

 

Went to the festival, they were out of Haggis.

 

 

 

Organize closets - done

 

My biggest job was organizing my pantry.   It still looks great.   The other closets probably need to be organized again.

Try a few new recipes - done

 

If you look at my Pinterest 'Food' board you will see most of the new recipes I have tried.   I think I have tried about 85 % of the recipes I have pinned.

Go to the Farmers Market more often - fail done

 

I went a total of zero times.  Wait...I am changing my answer.  I went to the outdoor market in Apeldoorn (Netherlands) twice, to the market in Copenhagen (Denmark) once, and to the market in Malmo (Sweden) once.

4 times...not bad.  

Watch a lot of the Olympics (but don't stay up all night obsessively checking every channel for coverage like I did last time) - done

 

I watched as much as I could.   I was in Europe during the entire time of the games, so I could only watch at night and then for only an hour tops.

Be a little more spontaneous...but not too much - done ?

My Summer Bucket List

I live less than 30 minutes away from the where this picture was taken (which I borrowed from the internet).  How lucky am I? 

Looking at this beautiful picture makes me think about all of the things that I don't do every day.   Yes work is important, it pays the bills after all, but living your life is important too.  I come to this conclusion at least once a year, and since I love making lists, I figured I would make a list of things I could do this summer that don't entail sitting in front of my laptop for 16 hours a day.

Visit the new Polar Bear at the zoo, check in on the new Sea Lion too 

Go somewhere I have never been

Do something brave

Do something outside every day

Plant flowers

Take a road trip

Eat Popsicles

Keep heels smooth and lovely

Drink a lot of water

Hike a new trail

Volunteer some time

Spend more time at Red Butte Garden

Go to a concert

See a play or musical

Go to a sporting event

Spend more time with friends

Go on a picnic

Swim

Make a craft

Save money for trips

Start Christmas shopping

(yah the 2 items above seem to cancel each other out don't they?)

Register to be an organ donor

Do something educational

Try a new restaurant

Go to the Scottish Festival…eat some Haggis

Organize closets

Try a few new recipes

Go to the Farmers Market more often

Watch a lot of the Olympics (but don't stay up all night obsessively checking every channel for coverage like I did last time)

Be a little more spontaneous...but not too much.

Check back with me in September, lets say around the Autumnal Equinox, and I will make a report on how successful I was in checking things off this list.

Blurry much?

I did manage to do a few fun things whilst I was in California for work last month, as evidenced by these very blurry pictures taken with my Blackberry. (My camera decided it doesn't want to work anymore...I really want to get a new one, but the budget may not allow at this moment. Keep your fingers crossed that I don't get sent anywhere cool like the Czech Republic anytime soon, or else I will sadly not be able to provide any photographic enjoyment for y'all.)

First stop was Stone Brewery in Escondido. Both my Boss and one of my Co-Workers are Beer aficionados and Stone Brewery beer is some of their favorite. I suspect I was invited along to be the designated driver and not really because I am super cool like they said, but oh well.

My fun co-worker Rob.

Grounds outside the restaurant.


This is the cooler where they keep the vintage and "special" beers. There were alot of oohs and ahs and very excited looking men during this part of the tour.

The bottling thingy.

These casks are where they will blend different kinds of beers, including some from different breweries to come up with a new kind of beer. Also much excitement to be had here.

And here is where you get to sample the beer at the end of the tour. I may or may not have aided and abetted in some drunkenness by getting my glass filled and then letting other people drink my share.

I actually thought the tour was really interesting, and I enjoyed the food they served for dinner, but after 7 hours of watching everyone drink and not having anything else to really do - I was definitely ready to go back to the hotel.

Disneyland of course. I wanted this picture to look sort of surreal and all, but all you get is blurry.

Fun co-worker Colette from Ireland. This was taken at the Wild Animal Park. These little deer were such loves, and this one in particular would bare its teeth just a little when you petted it so that it looked like it was smiling at you. Awww.

We were going to go into San Diego, but somehow found ourselves 3 miles outside of Tijuana (don't ask). So we thought, what the heck and drove right on in.

As soon as we passed the border without being stopped, Colette started to get nervous because she didn't declare herself leaving the country, and she was only in the U.S. on a Visa. We decided that perhaps we should just turn around and go back. This was not an easy thing though. The roads are interesting South of the Border, and my rudimentary Spanish was not really helping me much with reading road signs. We seriously drove around for a 1/2 hour before we somehow figured out how to get back in line to cross into the U.S. Not before driving through some shady warehouse districts where they were trying to sell puppy mill puppies off the side of the road though. Sadness.

And then we had to sit in line to cross the border for at least an hour, while people walked up and down between the cars trying to sell things like fruit salad, and giant plaster turtles, which I didn't really get. I mean who goes to Tijuana for a giant plaster turtle?

There were also a lot of beggars. It was actually quite sad. I didn't really like that aspect of it all.

Other than the sad puppies, the weird plaster turtles, the questionable fruit salad, etc. I would say we had a great time on our adventure to Mexico. We laughed the entire time, it was ridiculous. It was especially funny when Colette was getting nervous about how long it was taking to cross the border and wondered if they would shoot her if she just got out and made a run for it. To which I responded that they would probably be able to catch her before they had to shoot her. And then she thought I was saying she was out of shape. And we honestly were laughing like people that were high on drugs, I am surprised they didn't arrest us.

That is all for today, if I manage to get my camera to turn on I will download my pictures of when I went to the Getty and share them next time.

Adios

Snowshoeing in Utah

A couple of weeks ago my sister and I went snowshoeing up at Silver Lake. It was alot of fun and soooo beautiful; I wanted to share some pictures of our adventures. Word to the wise, from someone who isn't super in shape, rent the ski poles...they just may save you. Just saying.

This is a picture taken of the lake last Autum when I went up there for a hike.

This is pretty much the same view but in Winter. It's amazing the difference several feet of snow makes.

It's a hard life...

...when you HAVE to spend the entire weekend around athletes in tight spandex...sometimes half out of their tight spandex. Giggle, giggle.

I am sorry but I don't think I will ever grow out of that boy crazy 16 year old that I used to be.

Anyhoo, you should check out the Short Track Speed Skating World Cup at the Olympic Oval this weekend. Utah has some of the fastest ice on earth, which provides a great venue for world record breaking. Last time I volunteered at the Short Track World Cup it seemed like a world record was being broken during every race.

Oh and one more thing, come a little closer please because I need to whisper this, but Apollo Anton Ohno isn't that exciting. Plus he's short and has teensy tiny feet.

4th Festivities

We had our usual 'sibling' 4th of July outings this year. Those of us siblings who could attend that is...we miss those of you who were not with us. But we had a fabulous 4th of a time anyway.

First stop, Provo Freedom Festival

I really love going to this Festival, even though I become a big sweaty mess of a person after meandering about for hours in the hot sun. At this festival you can find all sorts of interesting things. I particularly like the Texas Twister drinks and the booth of tiny hand made Llamas. They are so cute, that I wanted to buy one right then and there, but I refrained and purchased a new coin for my collection instead. I know, I know, I am a nerd. But I love my coins. This year I got a 1968 Silver Peso Commemorating the Mexico City Olympics. There you go 2 collections in one. I do like to be efficient.

After the Freedom Festival we went to see Wall-E. I LOVE this movie, I have seen it twice now. This gives it the distinction of being the only movie I have seen twice in the theater in a very long time. Wall-E is full of social/political/environmental commentary. Right up my alley. It's also cute and sweet. And who doesn't like a robot who loves Hello Dolly? Seriously?

Next we went Bowling and had some Pizza at the Fat Cats. I of course won the first round. I don't know why I said 'of course', I just like to be sassy I guess.

This is a picture of the bowling ball I wish I owned.

After bowling we headed on over to the Sugarhouse Park to ready ourselves to be dazzled and amazed by the pyrotechnics display. AKA - the fireworks. We had to get there a little early, because as you can see it starts to fill up. Luckily this year there were no gang fights in our general vicinity.

After a rousing game of Phase Ten, we got bored and decided to have a massage train. Well..I decided to have a massage train. It made me laugh, so I had to take a picture. MacConnell was only on board with the Massage train if he was in between his two Sisters. So insert my face between Michael and MacConnell and there you have it. And yes, he is wearing my J-Lo sunglasses.




Here we are trying to take a group picture.


We capped it all off with the Fireworks. Which due to the prevailing winds drifted over our area and rained down fiery bits upon our heads. I say, any 4th of July with a little element of danger thrown in, is a good one. How was yours?

A bheil Gàidhlig agaibh?

I love a good festival. There’s the Multicultural festival, the Utah Arts Festival, Swiss Days, Oktoberfest, the Greek Festival, the Sundance Film Festival, the Japanese Festival, the Italian Festival, the Himalayan Fest, Llama Fest, etc. I love them all. They make me feel giddy like a school girl. But, if I had to pick my favorite, it would be the Scottish Festival and Highland Games. We usually make this an annual family event. Because you see, the Scottish Festival is jam packed with interesting things to do and see. They have wee little Scottish dogs to look at, Falconry, Kilt Making demonstrations, shortbread making contests, highland Cattle, traditional food (yes, once a year I manage to choke down some haggis), sheep dog demonstrations, the games themselves (sheaf tossing, caber tossing, etc.), dancing, the Tattoo (drum performance), bagpipe bands, and the Wicked Tinkers.

The Wicked Tinkers are a Celtic band like no other. They are like the AC/DC of pipe and drum and you have never had your ear drums reverberate until you have been to a Wicked Tinkers performance. They are Rock Stars.

Here are some pictures of our festival fun.

The Wicked Tinkers - I can personally attest to the fact that it is indeed true what they say about what one does or does not wear under one's kilt. Long story.

I took this one for my Dad. They were using this to make ice cream.

Happy Family.

And if that wasn't enough, my cute Sister and I decided to be domestic and make jam this weekend too.


Here is my pyramid of Jam. Kate has the other half, just in case you were thinking that it was a measly showing. If you put Kate's jam and my jam together it would be one serious Pyramid O' Jam. I'm just saying.