2011 Catch-up

Here is a (brief...or not) summary of our 2011.  It was quite a year, and I did a rotten job of documenting it... but here we go!

FEBRUARY

Valentine's Day... the perfect note on the sweetest bouquet.  I'm quite aware of how blessed I am.

I sang here for President's Day.

We went to some really cool ice castles in Midway.

MARCH

Went to the Chabot Space Center with Angie and Jim during our trip to Cali to visit Stanford/Berkeley.

Alex and Jim (they have the same birthday!)

Melinda and Angie!

Angie, trapped on the moon.  Don't you hate it when that happens?

One of my favorite pictures of Alex...ever.

We loved Stanford's campus- but...

Alex chose Berkeley!

Alex also attended the Holi festival (Festival of Colors) in Spanish Fork.

APRIL

After 8 long years... we graduated!!

Parents were proud.

(It was really early...I'm not crying.)  See that GORGEOUS lei?  My dad performed some miracles, and, thanks to some lovely Costco employees, got it for me just in time for:

Me to pray in convocation.  I think I said we were really excited to be done two or three times.

We were surprised with a serious graduation present: a brand new car!!!

Went to La Caille to celebrate!  We want to live here.

Went to NYC as the stage manager for New York Showcase with the MDT seniors.   Heather joined us.
(Best scones EVER.  Worth the price of the plane ticket.)

May

Alex went hiking in southern Utah with his friends Brenton, Jeff and Stu.
I'm pretty sure I was still in New York.  Or sleeping.

June

Cross-country drive #1.  Found this little house in Denver and fell in love.  It is 4 stories.

Kudos to the person who named this place.  Very assertive.

Independence, MO Visitor's Center.

Adam-ondi-Ahman

The gorgeous B&B we stayed in!  The Inn on Crescent Lake in Missouri. 

It's a real lake.  Alex looks great in that life vest!

JULY

Spent our summer in Nauvoo.  (Thanks to Logan Bradford for the picture!)

Ate at the Ivy, of course.

AUGUST

Went to Boston and Palmyra with the family.

President Christianson (mission and fmr. stake pres.) gave us a tour of the Sacred Grove.

Alvin's tree

They learned a lot at the Grandon printing press

BYU blue at the Peter Whitmer home where the Church was organized.

The Mayflower II

Went to see Natural Bridge State Park in Massachusetts 

It was really cool.  We had a personal tour!

The Berkshires.  It was so beautiful!

The top of Mt. Greylock

Went to Saratoga National Park

Mom and I went to "America's Stonehenge" which was actually pretty cool.

Boston brownstones.  I loved Boston.

Boston Public Garden.  Gorgeous.

At the Public Garden

A carriage ride around Boston, courtesy of Dad

We even got a free tour of Edith Wharton's home.

It is huge.

Tanglewood!  The highlight of the trip.  Look at that property!!

Seeing John Williams conduct the Boston Pops!

Mom and Dad loved Film Night, too!

September

We moved here!  This is our little apartment in northern California.

Annabelle was reunited with her dad after the long car ride with mom.

Went to my first baseball game.  (Go Giants!)

October

Angie and I got creative!  We put up these lovely curtains...

And got some great lamps from IKEA...

And we built this beauty all by ourselves.

Here is Angie, hard at work!

We celebrated Food Day at Berkeley with Angie.

Annabelle made her movie debut!

She was a little wiggle worm, but very cute.

November

We had our very own 'baking day.'  We are awesome pepperkakor makers!

Went to the Santa Cruz boardwalk!

It was a super fun day with Jim, Angie, Jon, and Brittany!

Emily got married!  A good round of Perfect Wedding and Martinelli's was needed!

I had a concert in the Tabernacle.  (That's me and George Dyer.)

December

We celebrated Mikolas with the Hoffmans!  Amazing, amazing meal.

Went to the San Fransico Ballet with Angie and Jim to see my first professional ballet...

The Nutcracker!  It was amazing!

Lots to do in San Francisco!

Belly got a Christmas haircut.

Came home to Utah for Christmas.  Glorious break!

We also celebrated our 4th Anniversary!  (This pic isn't from that night... I just liked it.)

Projects (Updated!)

(Updated pictures!)  So this one time, I decided to make homemade gifts for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I knew how to do a basic crochet stitch, but thanks to the magic of the internet, (ravelry.com and youtube, among others) I've become a crochet fiend.  Here are some samples!

Also, if anyone would like to order one for yourself or a friend, let me know!

Dreams

At what point are you supposed to give up on your dreams?

No, seriously. 

I have always wanted to do Les Miserables professionally.  I think it's the easiest thing in the world for me to sing.  I think I'm perfect for it. 

A few years ago, we said adios to the professional performing world.  It just wasn't for us.  The environment, the people, the self-centeredness of it all- just didn't feel happy. 

I am now the proud owner of 10-15-20 or so more pounds than I was when I got married.  Ok- not very proud at all.  And very self-conscious. 

We have also talked about Alex's desire to start a family.  A lot.  I know it's right.  Lots of things have happened to know it's right.

I'm still terrified of the thought, though.

The possibility of an opportunity of taking part in the Les Mis movie has been haunting me all night.  3 years ago, I would have jumped on it- I looked and sounded the part.

Now I just sound the part.

And people are very specific these days about what passes for 'young and pretty.'  Especially in movies.

Well, I was given the voice I was given for a reason.  I really want to use it.  I want to sing.  All the time.  But I also know that we shouldn't wait much longer to have kids.

I am so conflicted, I don't know what to do.  Hate the world- love the work- give it all up...

I have been wrestling with this so much since I moved to California.  I'm scared to put myself out there, but I'm also scared of not putting myself out there, and letting fear rule my life.

Or do I just find new dreams, and shove the old ones down where I'll never find them again?  Or put them on hold until my kids are grown and gone?

I really, really, really don't know what to do.   

Grumpy gills.

It's been a while...

In my new California life, I want to be better at doing the things I want to do.

Sounds simple enough, but I want to do a LOT of things.

One of those is keeping up this blog, if only so our friends and family won't forget us!

So my first offering to you is this speech.

http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=441&tid=7

You can view an html, pdf, or download an mp3 of it for FREE. (I love the BYU speeches website!)

The talk, by C. Terry Warner (David's father) is entitled "Honest, Simple, Solid, True."

Download it. Read it. Learn from it.

As a performer, I identify with it, and as a Christian, my soul sang when I heard it.

I know I can be better. A LOT better. I am working on it.

It is applicable in every part of our lives. I wish everyone in Savior of the World could listen to it.

Graduation

In about 2 weeks, I will be able to catch up on my life, because I will be graduating. Finally. Stay tuned.