Q turns 3!

Last Saturday was Q's much anticipated third birthday. J decided on a Storybook themed part.

Preparations began Friday night. Once the moon was settled in we set up floating lanterns in the pool. Q was disappointed they didn't float in the air (like in the movie Tangled), but lil' J was all over them. When an unfortunate manmade gust of air (thank you brother-in-law with the leaf blower) blew most of them over lil'J was distraught.The lights did look lovely for being thrown together with printer paper, tape, and disposable plates.Q was also an enthusiastic blower-out of all the candles when we were pulling them out of the pool.

Saturday was charming. And all the little guests were adorable in their costumes. I had been envisioning a 'too much birthday' situation all week, but Q held it together fairly well...at least until all the guests had left.

Let me describe the different areas J set up in the back yard.

Exhibit A:

There was a butterfly garden/art area.

A table was set up with paper and supplies, once masterpieces were finished they were hung in the gallery.

Exhibit B:

She built a cardboard castle, complete with a functional drawbridge.

Exhibit C:

An alligator pond. Lil'J thought the alligator was about the best thing ever. He couldn't stop talking about it all morning.

Exhibit D:

A castle shaped bounce house (gift of the in-laws): 

There was also a lovely mermaid cove (which I neglected to take a photo of) where treasures were buried in the sand to be uncovered by little hands.

Playing in the sand is the only way I got these two to hold still long enough to take a photo. 

Eating lunch in her castle.

Q needed a little help with those candles.

Chocolate on her face, dirt on her feet.

Wasn't all peaches and cream. Sometimes even the princess can't get everything she wants.

Lil'J handled Q getting the attention like a champ.

This is how it ended, Q streaking from the house screaming hysterically for her princess dolls. Completely inconsolable over having to take a bath and a nap, while we all laughed.

Ode to T

And funny as all hell.
-End

I know, that's not technically an ode, but today is T's birthday, and I am no Keats. 

We have been friends since diapers. Since before I can remember. Her father baptized my parents. Before my sister J was born. Her mother held J as my family was sealed together in the temple. T and her sister L were my first friends. She's been as long as I've had any sense of the world.

At BYU we went walking almost every night for almost a year (except when 24 was on - T couldn't miss). This periodically required multiple sweatshirts and jackets, we walked even in the dead of Utah winter.


Emails have been written every single weekday for years (except during illness or vacation). In 2012 we exchanged over 525 messages. Rarely brief, many reach three or four single spaced pages. I'm grateful she is willing to read all my ramblings and thoroughly advise. Almost everything I think about, she reads about. She sees the process before I've figured out the answer. At times she is called upon to provide the answer. There is no birthday gift I can give to equal that.

I'm honored she trusts me to read her life, hopes, dreams, disasters, and ridiculous moments. Work. Writing. Wonderful boyfriend M. T is amazing, and puts up with a lot from me - breakdowns, bad advice, crankiness, plain stupidity at times. She is always there to comfort, celebrate successes, support, and tell me to snap out of a funk. Laughs and cries with me. Her writing never fails to make me smile, often laugh hysterically. The best friend.

I'm aware how utterly lucky I am. I think of these lines from Anne of Green Gables,

"A bosom friend--an intimate friend, you know--a really kindred spirit to whom I can confide my inmost soul.  I've dreamed of meeting her all my life.  I never really supposed I would, but so many of my loveliest dreams have come true all at once that perhaps this one will, too.  Do you think it's possible?" - Anne, Chapter VIII

Happy Birthday T! I hope it is fantastic.

 T, K, and L. No idea what we are singing.

 Based on the look on my face this may have been the best moment of my life.

 L, A (who we visited in DC), K, and T.

M and 3 giants in the back. Several cropped out entirely.

Because, you know, we lived in Provo.

 Hiking in Utah.

Heading out on a walk, in the snow.

At Disneyland.

 Meeting niece Q.

In Cleveland for a previous T birthday.

DC Part I

Don't get excited. The only places I visited were basically the Holocaust Museum (which we spent most of the day Saturday at) and the Vietnam Memorial. I didn't even walk the extra 200 feet to see Abe. My feet hurt okay! I'm planning on going back so this was a leisurely visit. Most of the time was just spent wandering around.

I pretty much ate and slept-in for the entire weekend. Visited with best friend T and lovely A as well. 

A and I worked together at the MTC in Provo with T's sister L. I hadn't seen A since L's wedding, and L has 3 babes now...it has been a while. In July A leaves to do a two-year stint in Thailand for work, so she will sadly be gone before I can get back.

It was a perfectly relaxing vacation. I'm quite content. It could have been a disaster. 

I packed three days in advance. One bag for DC and one bag for the single night I stayed in Berkeley with D and N. Which they found hilarious.

 Riding BART to the airpot in the middle of the night. Alright, it was only a little before 6am, but knowing what time I was going to have to get up Friday morning had me terrified. 

 Naturally the man next to me on the plane smelled horrid. 

 I adore the ceiling at Reagan airport.

And the floors.

Thursday night I stayed with A, and agonized over the time change. Could not fall asleep.

 Friday T arrived and we checked in at the hotel. I stayed in that bed until 10 or 11 both Saturday and Sunday. Went to bed surprisingly early as well. Catching up.

 Walking around the Mall Friday.

 We stopped in only to see the gem exhibit and the Hope diamond. Then headed to a lovely dinner at The Capital Grille. Which was amazing.

DC was charming, if a bit chilly. I'm looking forward to T and I meeting up there again, someday. I'll write a follow-up later for Part 2 with other fun things we did...but it might have to wait a couple weeks. Stories to come. 

On Wishes

The last few weeks months have been quite the whirlwind. I am hoping, after April 30th, things will suddenly change. I’m crossing my fingers they do.

My primary wish is simply for the semester to be over. The more apt wish would be that I was prepared for my comprehensive exam. I had a meeting with my advisor last week that threw me a complete curve ball. I’d had fellow students outline what the test was like for them and explain what the chair of our department instructed them to do, but each professor handles the exam in their own way. Not that I’m complaining, but I wish I’d known my advisor was going to do things a completely different way. Good thing I adore her, and agree with her approach (I just wish I wasn’t the person who had to take the test). I don’t know how I’m going to “know more than you’ve ever known in your life” in 25 days. Here goes nothing. Maybe, if I survive, I’ll write a book – How to Become an Expert on Victorian and Modernist Literature in 25 Day. I can tell you the conclusion now – it is impossible. Doesn’t mean it won’t be entertaining.

No matter if it is or not, I'm going to wake up May 1st and feel as though it is tomorrow.  I suppose I'd better pass the time studying.