Spring in Provo: 4/22

It was a very busy day. We woke up early so we could be at Christine's convocation.

I'm so grateful that it was at the Marriot Center. It's the easiest place to attend graduation with kids. Our kids behaved themselves, though we did a fair amount of walking around after we witnessed Christine receive her diploma.


John and Dorothy have had at least one child at BYU since 1994. Dorothy requested that all her children wear a graduation cap for a picture. I think six BYU graduate children is quite an accomplishment. So congrats to Christine, and congrats to John and Dorothy!


I love this picture for so many reasons: Aunt Rachel looking like a supermodel, holding the hands of two adoring 4-year-old nieces who discovered that they are friends during this trip.


Caps for sale! Oliver is so awesome, AND he knows how to speak Chinese. Now, look behind Oliver at Stephen. Do you see that face?


Now look at this face. He alternated between Stephen the grumpy and Stephen the deliriously happy for much of the day. That boy was very tired.

We all went to lunch at Spark without any kids, except for Mi Na of course.  Ie Ling and Jonathan watched all of the kids at Scott and Sarah's place.  The food was delicious and if I had to describe it another way, "sexy" is the word I would use.

That night we went to The Lower Lights concert. As you know, I'm a huge fan. I loved it. Thanks to Scott and Sarah and the rest for putting on a wonderful event.

After the concert, we went to the BYU Creamery on Ninth for milkshakes. Steve got a peanut butter cup and I got rocky road.  So good.  It was a tiny celebration for a very special 29-year-old birthday boy.


His birthday was overshadowed by lots of other important stuff, but he of course didn't mind a bit.  There's more celebrating coming your way, babe.  I hope you don't mind. :)

A letter to Jimmer

*Mei Li took this picture of me. I was reading an online sports article.*

Dear Jimmer,

Last night I went to bed wishing I never cared for you. I lamented to Steve, "what's the point of caring if it's all just going to end like that?"

My handsome husband then said, "Just because you know flowers are going to die, doesn't mean you can't enjoy them while they last." I suppose the same could be said of springtime, Christmastime, and the four months in between tax seasons. I love those times.

So today, I'm changing my tune. Thank you for the memories, Jimmer. Steve and I loved the time we spent in front of our computer watching the Cougars with Buffalo Wild Wings takeout.

We studied the post-game stats, we read articles about you, we laughed at Teach Me How to Jimmer and Jimmer love song, and we watched and re-watched game highlights. And even though last night's game was at times painful to watch, your three-pointer from Provo gave us great joy.

The ends of springtime and Christmastime are bearable largely because I know that they will come again. I'm just not sure you will. Will you?

Take care, Jimmer. CTR. Don't worry about me. I'm gonna be okay.

Ie Li

HBLL

Ie Ling showed me the following hilarious video and I watched it over and over again.



Speaking of the Harold B. Lee Library, I miss that place. I have some fun memories from there. I napped a lot with my head down on my textbook.

I learned quickly my freshman year that the periodical section is where you go if you want to get asked out on a date by a complete stranger. I stopped going there after a couple of interesting encounters.

The fourth floor was where I went to hang out with my Asian and Polynesian buddies in my freshman and sophomore years.

Junior year, Steve and I flirted on the third level, which I hear is now the "snack zone." Steve introduced me to texting that year. Unfortunately, my cell phone plan didn't have unlimited texting at the time. My parents weren't too happy after seeing the cell phone bill.

In my senior year, I made my way up to the fifth floor to where Steve was having a study group. I waited for him to be done, and that's when I whispered to him, "I'm pregnant." I will never forget his face or how he said, "that's amazing!"

Life was amazing then and it is now too. There is just so much to do and experience and to love in this life.

Saturday

Steve woke up first and went for a run. I slept.

I woke up and ran a couple miles before breakfast. Steve had prepared whole wheat buttermilk waffles for all of us. It's our favorite breakfast around here.

We made a family trip to Costco and spent a lot of money on delicious food that will hopefully last us a long long time.

Steve volunteered at Gifts of the Heart at the Stake Center, but was back in time for me to go on the team run along the C&O canal in DC.

The team run was a lot of fun and so beautiful. Running next to Alisha pushed me to run much faster than I usually do. We were supposed to run 5 miles, but somehow ended up running 6.5.

On the way home from DC, I enjoyed conversation with my teammates. One is the mother of seven and a new grandmother. I loved getting her perspective on raising children. She said that she didn't need to worry as much as she did. I needed to hear that. I'm a worrier, but I need to have more hope and faith in myself and my children.

In the evening, we took the kids out to eat. It was only mildly stressful, but mostly delicious and convenient. Our two kids are the boy and girl version of the same person. Both are so energetic, giggly, friendly to all, and inquisitive. They both must ask "why?" to EVERY statement.

Then it was bedtime.

Then it was us time. We listened to the BYU football game on the radio. What a disappointment. I get so emotional during these losing games. I'm nervous, sad, mad, and prayerful. Steve always has to remind me how little football matters. Why is it that the sports fanatic in our household is reminding me about how little sports matter? We had to stop listening in the middle of the third quarter.

I made freezer jam while the losing game went on without me. In middle school, I used to tell everyone that I wanted to be a hick in the country who made her own jam. I used to think that farmers and hicks were the same thing, but they are not. I meant farmer. Maybe some readers of this blog remember that about me. I'm not a farmer in the country, but I make jam and I like it. I have yet to try making cooked jam.

We stayed up late cleaning the house in preparation for the Sabbath. I love a clean house. I love my family. I love everything about life right now. Happy Sabbath.

Labor day weekend highlights

Saturday morning, I ran 12.5 miles at a record pace for me. My average mile time was 1:53 faster than my Charlottesville half marathon average mile time. I felt strong when I finished and it made me so happy.

Steve worked the rest of the day on Saturday, but was home to play in the evening and help put the kids to bed.

Will, a friend from high school, and his girlfriend, Joanna, came over Saturday night for a short visit. They are lovely people.

BYU beat OU. We were delighted. Do you know how much I love BYU? A whole heck of a lot.

Sunday was fast Sunday, and a lovely one at that. We are blessed to live in an amazing ward.

Steve took Labor Day off. We went to the temple together in the morning, and then played with the kids at home. It was a rainy Labor Day so we went to Red Robin for burgers, which was actually disappointing. In-N-Out, I will love you forever.

It was so nice to have Steve around on Monday. I'm looking forward to Tuesday, when all of his work will be finished for a time, and we can play games together after the kids go down, pillow talk until midnight, and spend time as a complete family.