Hello Everybody! I’m told that this is the most wonderful time of the year, and what better way to put an exclamation point on that sentiment than with a blog post? Here’s a Week in Review.
Candlelight Christmas
Marla and I discovered a Salt Lake City gem – Candlelight Christmas at This is the Place Heritage Park. It’s beautiful. Everyone I’ve told about this since being there has said that they didn’t know that the park had a Christmas event, so I’m on a mission to get the word out. It’s a great evening. All of the buildings and homes are decorated with an old fashioned, classic theme, lots of evergreen branches, red ribbons and lights. I’m pretty sure that the early settlers did not have electric light displays, but you can see the danger in combining candles with branches and ribbons. They’d hate to burn down the park. Anyway, there are great light displays along the outside of the park and up on the hill. Some of the fences had wagon wheels in lights all along them, very cute.
AND there’s a train ride. We debated riding the train because of the cold, but the workers assured us that there were blankets on the benches, so we braved it. It turned out to be my favorite part of the night. The train was so cute with its holly and bows, and there was Christmas music playing. We rode past the big light displays, and through the village, and then up the hill. At the top of the hill there was a small pond, and a large sailing ship in lights sitting just on the edge so that it reflects in the water. From there we could see across the whole valley. It was gorgeous, and I loved being there with Marla, just the two of us, having our own Christmas evening together.
There’s a lot more to do at the park than I’ve written here, craft projects, Father Christmas, a live nativity. It’s all good. I recommend going.
Book
I’m reading an interesting book, “The Man Who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits”. The title pretty much says it all – it’s a biography on Dickens and his writing of A Christmas Carol, and of how that book changed English and American societies’ views on Christmas. I just started it, so I don’t have any fascinating facts to interest you with right now, but I will, and I’m sure you’ll be looking forward to that.
A Paper
I finally finished a term paper for my History class. It’s on a couple of documents from British history, one of those being the Magna Carta, and I’ve been working on it forever! Here’s how this went down: the Magna Carta was signed in 1215, and while there I thought “Hey, that would make a good paper” and then got started. That was almost 800 years ago. Way too long to be working on a paper. But, it’s done, and I think that I’ll be able to submit it today. What a relief.
Christmas
Isn’t it strange that it’s Christmas time again already? Melissa bought a tree for our apartment on Tuesday. It’s really pretty – very full and thick, and perfectly shaped. I wasn’t too interested in the tree one way or the other, but now that it’s up, and the place smells all piney, I like it.
I’ve decided to take a more relaxed approach to Christmas this year. I have in the past gotten too worked up over it. I don’t know where people get all of their expectations, but I’ve had it in my head that Christmas is for families, and it’s suppose to be so full of love and warmth and excitement that you’re in danger of your chest exploding. I kind of blame those tv commercials with the guy who buys his wife diamond jewelry and then gives it to her while she’s sitting in her rocking chair with their new baby. Geesh.
But soon after Thanksgiving I was thinking about that holiday and how much I love it, and a big reason for loving it is because it’s so relaxed. No pressure. Thanksgiving doesn’t have to be anything other than what it is. And then I realized that Christmas can be exactly the same. Christmas doesn’t have to BE anything either. It can adapt to all of us, whatever our circumstances. It’s a lovely holiday. The trees and decorations are gorgeous, the music is good, parties are fun, and you know I love getting a gift or two. I can be happy with and love Christmas just as it is, for what it is. And of course there is at the heart of the holiday the birth of our Savior. Some of the most beautiful verses in scripture are the Christmas story. They’re simple and sweet with so much importance in so few words.
That’s how I’m going to do Christmas this year, simply and with importance put on the little things. No pressure to make it spectacular, just enjoying it for what it is.
Thanks as always for your continued friendship.
You are loved.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Monday, November 30, 2009
Random Weekend Recap
Not working for two days in a row really is nice.
I’d get bored if it happened all the time, but every now and then is great.
Speaking of great, I sure do like a turkey dinner.
Especially the stuffing.
And the rice & broccoli casserole.
What? You don’t have rice & broccoli casserole? I suggest you call my sister-in-law for the recipe.
It’s nice to be the girl who is invited to someone else’s house. I didn’t have to make a thing.
Sierra beat me at Apples to Apples.
She beat me bad.
I’m crying.
We took a nice walk through the neighborhood and around a little lake.
The lake had a thin sheet of ice over it.
We threw rocks through the ice.
I just got very confused with threw and through.
While walking, I poured my heart out to my big brother, and he solved my problems.
Every girl should have a Barry in her life. He even gave me a hug and an “I love you Ang.”
I’m crying again.
After the walk we played Scattergories, and if we’d kept score I think I would have redeemed myself from the Apples game.
I’m sure I beat Sierra.
Take that Sierra.
Then we watched While You Were Sleeping because Melody wanted to.
I forget how good that movie is. Very charming.
I slept in forever on Friday.
I am not one of those suckers who go to the store at 4am.
If you are one of those, then I’m sorry I called you a sucker.
But only kind of sorry.
I cleaned my apartment. Man did it need that.
And then I worked on photo albums.
The kids sure were cute when they were little.
Sometimes I forget what they looked like then. They’re so grown up now.
And Sierra likes to beat me at games, and that’s not cute.
But I love her still.
I love them all.
Melissa and I went to see The Fantastic Mr. Fox.
Fantastic! It's really fun.
You should see it.
And then we ate Pei Wei.
Also fantastic.
Saturday I had to muster up all of my courage and strength and go to work at the bookstore.
And found that it really wasn’t bad.
Not nearly as bad as I had feared.
Marla and I took Jonah to the mall that evening, and it wasn’t too crowded either. Nice.
Jonah thinks that going to a store with Angie means that Angie will buy him something.
I bought him a cookie.
The girls used to think that same thing.
I blame myself.
On the way home I noticed all of the pretty decorations up on the street lights and smiled.
Christmas lights are gorgeous.
My primary lesson on Sunday went pretty well.
The kids always ask me if I brought snacks, and I always say no.
I’m not as nice a primary teacher as I am an aunt.
But I promised them that I’ll bring something next time.
I better write that down and remember it.
I spent all afternoon sitting on my bed with the bright sunshine coming through my window and reading.
Until I fell asleep.
So nice.
And then I watched TV until bedtime.
Sometimes a lazy Sunday is good for the soul.
That’s my recap.
Hope you all had a lovely holiday!
And are ready for all of the fun and the chaos that is Christmas.
Here’s a trailer for Mr. Fox. It really is funny.
I’d get bored if it happened all the time, but every now and then is great.
Speaking of great, I sure do like a turkey dinner.
Especially the stuffing.
And the rice & broccoli casserole.
What? You don’t have rice & broccoli casserole? I suggest you call my sister-in-law for the recipe.
It’s nice to be the girl who is invited to someone else’s house. I didn’t have to make a thing.
Sierra beat me at Apples to Apples.
She beat me bad.
I’m crying.
We took a nice walk through the neighborhood and around a little lake.
The lake had a thin sheet of ice over it.
We threw rocks through the ice.
I just got very confused with threw and through.
While walking, I poured my heart out to my big brother, and he solved my problems.
Every girl should have a Barry in her life. He even gave me a hug and an “I love you Ang.”
I’m crying again.
After the walk we played Scattergories, and if we’d kept score I think I would have redeemed myself from the Apples game.
I’m sure I beat Sierra.
Take that Sierra.
Then we watched While You Were Sleeping because Melody wanted to.
I forget how good that movie is. Very charming.
I slept in forever on Friday.
I am not one of those suckers who go to the store at 4am.
If you are one of those, then I’m sorry I called you a sucker.
But only kind of sorry.
I cleaned my apartment. Man did it need that.
And then I worked on photo albums.
The kids sure were cute when they were little.
Sometimes I forget what they looked like then. They’re so grown up now.
And Sierra likes to beat me at games, and that’s not cute.
But I love her still.
I love them all.
Melissa and I went to see The Fantastic Mr. Fox.
Fantastic! It's really fun.
You should see it.
And then we ate Pei Wei.
Also fantastic.
Saturday I had to muster up all of my courage and strength and go to work at the bookstore.
And found that it really wasn’t bad.
Not nearly as bad as I had feared.
Marla and I took Jonah to the mall that evening, and it wasn’t too crowded either. Nice.
Jonah thinks that going to a store with Angie means that Angie will buy him something.
I bought him a cookie.
The girls used to think that same thing.
I blame myself.
On the way home I noticed all of the pretty decorations up on the street lights and smiled.
Christmas lights are gorgeous.
My primary lesson on Sunday went pretty well.
The kids always ask me if I brought snacks, and I always say no.
I’m not as nice a primary teacher as I am an aunt.
But I promised them that I’ll bring something next time.
I better write that down and remember it.
I spent all afternoon sitting on my bed with the bright sunshine coming through my window and reading.
Until I fell asleep.
So nice.
And then I watched TV until bedtime.
Sometimes a lazy Sunday is good for the soul.
That’s my recap.
Hope you all had a lovely holiday!
And are ready for all of the fun and the chaos that is Christmas.
Here’s a trailer for Mr. Fox. It really is funny.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Oh All Right
Sierra and I have a bit of an Apples to Apples rivalry going on. Have you ever played Apples? It's a fun, fun game, a family favorite. Some time ago we started a battle of words, me telling her that she's going down. Her telling me that she's not going anywhere. Neither one of us has ever won the game (against the whole group), not that I remember anyway, but we each feel pretty good about beating each other. And by the way - it's usually me beating her.
Last Friday we played Apples with the family, and she beat me by one card. A crushing defeat. Humiliation. She commented on my last post that I didn't mention her beating me, so I'm going to be mature and give Sierra kudos for her victory. This is easier for me knowing that it will be her last one. Her very last.
There's going to be a Thanksgiving smack down.
Last Friday we played Apples with the family, and she beat me by one card. A crushing defeat. Humiliation. She commented on my last post that I didn't mention her beating me, so I'm going to be mature and give Sierra kudos for her victory. This is easier for me knowing that it will be her last one. Her very last.
There's going to be a Thanksgiving smack down.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
A Star-Studded Weekend
DAVID ARCHULETA IS HERE! HE’S HERE!!! AAAAAAAAA!
That’s what I heard in constant streams for hours on Saturday. THE David Archuleta did a signing at the store, and boy can those teenage girls scream. Actually, I didn’t mind the girls screaming so much. They were excited and it was kind of fun to watch them. Most were there with their mom’s who laughed at their silly girls, or with their dad’s who seemed to be grinding their teeth. By the time those dad’s got up to the cash register to pay for the autographed cd they looked exhausted. What good men.
The fans who gave me reason for some concern were the women who were at least my age and there by themselves (no daughter to give them an excuse) wearing their own David t-shirts and giddy smiles. I try to give everyone some leniency in judgment, well out loud anyway, in my head the leniency isn’t what it should be, but come on! 40 is way too old to be crazy about David Archuleta.
David himself seemed like a nice kid. Very nice. He made a grand entrance down the stairs into the crowd (I think the screaming can still be heard hovering in the air over that part of Midvale). He smiled and waved and asked everyone how they were doing, and was honestly happy to be there, and was gracious with the fans. I was impressed.
His manager on the other hand was large and in charge. It worked well. Someone had to take command, and him being so rigid made it possible for David to be so nice, and kept him from being mobbed. We also had two officers from the Midvale police department there for security. Crazy huh? DB was a regular rock star venue last Saturday. Within the two hours that he was there we sold 500 cds, and saw three times as many teenagers. I think we were all a little dazed when he left.
I spent all of my time at the cash register, so I didn’t get to meet him or take a picture (like some of my coworkers did, honestly my nieces would KILL for that), but I did add a cd to the pile that he signed for employees, and then gave it to my nieces, and then got good hugs, which is better than meeting a pop star. And I got some pictures of him with my phone, but I honestly don’t know how to get pictures out of my phone, so you can’t see them. You’ll just have to trust me.
On Sunday I had dinner with Barry, Melody and the girls, and then we watched REAL Salt Lake win the Major League Soccer championship! WoHooo! I have to confess to a moment of realization, both of our team and of my own stupidity. We were watching the pregame hoopla and saw David Beckham walking into the stadium all dressed to the nines. How nice, he’s coming to the game. By the way, if you don’t know who David Beckham is, you should probably move out from under the rock where you’ve been living. He’s a world famous soccer player. Anyway, a few minutes later we saw Beckham out on the field warming up. What the…wait… why…. “Melody, is our team in the same league as the David Beckham team?” The look she gave me was probably the most scathing look she's ever given anyone. She’s a big REAL fan. All this time I’ve thought that we were part of a minor league, some small-town-pretending-to-be-cool soccer team. No way, man. We play with the big boys in the major league. I had no idea. Imagine my embarrassment. Of course the family wasn’t going to let that go, and through the whole game there were comments on how well REAL was doing for a pretend team.
And they did very well! They were tied at the end of regular playing time, and so there was 30 minutes of overtime. Still tied, so they did a series of penalty kicks, five for each team, and Salt Lake finished one point ahead, and the national champions, of a major league. Very cool.
Melody is at the stadium store this morning buying championship gear, and I think that she’s getting me a scarf! I have a scarf from the game that we went to in England, and now this. Someone might mistake me for a real sports fan.
My parents were here last week, and we all had a nice time. We didn’t go to many places, but rather each of my siblings took turns having dinner at their homes, and we just hung out. It was relaxing and good. Here are a couple of pictures from our evening at Barry’s. William has learned how to scoot backwards down the stairs. The other is of the kids playing Rock Band. I love their serious faces. Loud rock music, very serious faces.
That’s what I heard in constant streams for hours on Saturday. THE David Archuleta did a signing at the store, and boy can those teenage girls scream. Actually, I didn’t mind the girls screaming so much. They were excited and it was kind of fun to watch them. Most were there with their mom’s who laughed at their silly girls, or with their dad’s who seemed to be grinding their teeth. By the time those dad’s got up to the cash register to pay for the autographed cd they looked exhausted. What good men.
The fans who gave me reason for some concern were the women who were at least my age and there by themselves (no daughter to give them an excuse) wearing their own David t-shirts and giddy smiles. I try to give everyone some leniency in judgment, well out loud anyway, in my head the leniency isn’t what it should be, but come on! 40 is way too old to be crazy about David Archuleta.
David himself seemed like a nice kid. Very nice. He made a grand entrance down the stairs into the crowd (I think the screaming can still be heard hovering in the air over that part of Midvale). He smiled and waved and asked everyone how they were doing, and was honestly happy to be there, and was gracious with the fans. I was impressed.
His manager on the other hand was large and in charge. It worked well. Someone had to take command, and him being so rigid made it possible for David to be so nice, and kept him from being mobbed. We also had two officers from the Midvale police department there for security. Crazy huh? DB was a regular rock star venue last Saturday. Within the two hours that he was there we sold 500 cds, and saw three times as many teenagers. I think we were all a little dazed when he left.
I spent all of my time at the cash register, so I didn’t get to meet him or take a picture (like some of my coworkers did, honestly my nieces would KILL for that), but I did add a cd to the pile that he signed for employees, and then gave it to my nieces, and then got good hugs, which is better than meeting a pop star. And I got some pictures of him with my phone, but I honestly don’t know how to get pictures out of my phone, so you can’t see them. You’ll just have to trust me.
On Sunday I had dinner with Barry, Melody and the girls, and then we watched REAL Salt Lake win the Major League Soccer championship! WoHooo! I have to confess to a moment of realization, both of our team and of my own stupidity. We were watching the pregame hoopla and saw David Beckham walking into the stadium all dressed to the nines. How nice, he’s coming to the game. By the way, if you don’t know who David Beckham is, you should probably move out from under the rock where you’ve been living. He’s a world famous soccer player. Anyway, a few minutes later we saw Beckham out on the field warming up. What the…wait… why…. “Melody, is our team in the same league as the David Beckham team?” The look she gave me was probably the most scathing look she's ever given anyone. She’s a big REAL fan. All this time I’ve thought that we were part of a minor league, some small-town-pretending-to-be-cool soccer team. No way, man. We play with the big boys in the major league. I had no idea. Imagine my embarrassment. Of course the family wasn’t going to let that go, and through the whole game there were comments on how well REAL was doing for a pretend team.
And they did very well! They were tied at the end of regular playing time, and so there was 30 minutes of overtime. Still tied, so they did a series of penalty kicks, five for each team, and Salt Lake finished one point ahead, and the national champions, of a major league. Very cool.
Melody is at the stadium store this morning buying championship gear, and I think that she’s getting me a scarf! I have a scarf from the game that we went to in England, and now this. Someone might mistake me for a real sports fan.
My parents were here last week, and we all had a nice time. We didn’t go to many places, but rather each of my siblings took turns having dinner at their homes, and we just hung out. It was relaxing and good. Here are a couple of pictures from our evening at Barry’s. William has learned how to scoot backwards down the stairs. The other is of the kids playing Rock Band. I love their serious faces. Loud rock music, very serious faces.
Hope you all have a Happy, Happy Thanksgiving!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Office Memo
Dear Office Staff,
Today I am wearing a burgundy red, turtle-neck sweater. It’s a favorite. I believe that it is only one year old, so I was shocked and dismayed to find holes in both armpits. Actually, I didn’t find the hole, Ed did, which only caused further embarrassment. I have used safety pins to close the holes. I believe that this will take care of the problem for the rest of the work day, and until I am able to have the sweater mended. My mother will help me with the actual mending.
My apologies for the armpit flashes. Please know that I will make greater efforts in the future to ensure that this does not happen again. A close family member feels that I should take some personal time to recover emotionally, and to go shopping for a new sweater. This may be necessary, especially if my mother is not able to sew up these holes.
I can only apologize again.
Sincerely,
Angie
Today I am wearing a burgundy red, turtle-neck sweater. It’s a favorite. I believe that it is only one year old, so I was shocked and dismayed to find holes in both armpits. Actually, I didn’t find the hole, Ed did, which only caused further embarrassment. I have used safety pins to close the holes. I believe that this will take care of the problem for the rest of the work day, and until I am able to have the sweater mended. My mother will help me with the actual mending.
My apologies for the armpit flashes. Please know that I will make greater efforts in the future to ensure that this does not happen again. A close family member feels that I should take some personal time to recover emotionally, and to go shopping for a new sweater. This may be necessary, especially if my mother is not able to sew up these holes.
I can only apologize again.
Sincerely,
Angie
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Good News!
My mom and dad are here! They're visiting for the week, and I like it when they visit. There's an added bonus to this - all of my Utah siblings get together for dinners and quality family time. You'd think that living within close proximity to each other would mean seeing each other, but that's not always the case. I don't think I've seen Cortni and Brad all summer, and that's too long. I've missed them.
More good news! I got my yearly car inspection for the registration renewal on Monday. I wanted to do this while dad is here so that if/when they told me that something was wrong then he could help me fix it. Dad can fix anything. But it passed! No problems at all! I'm still shocked. Given my recent car history this feels like a miracle, a happy, happy miracle.
And, Sierra will be home this weekend for Thanksgiving break. Dear, dear Sierra.
It's a good week.
More good news! I got my yearly car inspection for the registration renewal on Monday. I wanted to do this while dad is here so that if/when they told me that something was wrong then he could help me fix it. Dad can fix anything. But it passed! No problems at all! I'm still shocked. Given my recent car history this feels like a miracle, a happy, happy miracle.
And, Sierra will be home this weekend for Thanksgiving break. Dear, dear Sierra.
It's a good week.
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