Three Years

Yesterday was a tough day.  I moped around for the first part of it and then figured it wasn't very productive.  Rather than focus on the fact it had been three years since my best friend died, I decided to think about some of the great experiences we shared during our decades of friendship.  Here are a few of the funny memories that brightened my day:

1. The time we made "Mormon Tequila"
  I think we were in seventh grade and we decided, while watching Indiana Jones, to make a "festive" drink. I'm pretty sure we just threw anything sugary into a pitcher with some gummy worms and then drank it.  We were so hyper and giggly after consuming so much sugar that Lorraine kicked us out of the kitchen and made us go outside until we calmed down.

2. The Ringo Starr concert--March 12,1999
   My first concert was Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.  I remember buying the tickets and the Smithtix lady looking really confused as to why a bunch of 15-16 year olds would want to go see Ringo Starr. I went with Lariann and our friend Malina Seeley.  I didn't buy anything at the concert but I now have Lari's Ringo beanie and mug that she bought at the concert.  I look at them and think about my first concert experience.

3. My First Date
    My first day was with a guy named Kiel Christopherson and we went to see "The Haunting."  The original plan was to go on a group date with a bunch of his friends and their dates.  I had called Lari and told her about the date and she told me that she and our friend Liz were going to see that movie too.  We didn't compare show times and I told her I would call her about the date the next day.
    As it turns out, I didn't have to tell her that much.  When Kiel arrived to pick me up I quickly discovered I was the ONLY girl in the group (none of the guys managed to find dates.)  As we walked in the movie theatre I saw Liz and Lari sitting near the front.  As luck would have it, one of Kiel's friends decided we would sit on the next row and I wound up directly behind Lari and Liz.  I didn't have that much to tell her the next day.

Some of my favorite pictures...

I had this picture hanging in my grad lab cubicle during my three years earning my MFA.  I think we made these in either pre-school or kindergarten.  I love that we all did something different with our hats.

Sara Hamblin, Me and Lariann

We played tee-ball for a couple of years. I think my parents still have that tiny mitt in their garage.  I used to call it a "baseball hand."

Lariann, Sara Hamblin, Me and Rachel (Lari's sister)

This is from our 3rd grade class picture.  We were in Mrs. Call's class that year.  I think Alex must have been born recently because I look kind of motherless.  I love that I'm wearing a nice Sunday dress and my hair looks awful.

Lari and me, 3rd grade class picture

I didn't scan very many "later" pictures when I scanned a bunch after she died so this is one from my 16th birthday party.  I love that Lari is reacting to Lauren's crazy face and that I look insane.  Seriously though, what is Lauren doing?

Brandi, Hilary, Lari, Lauren, Alex's head, me, Christina and Erin

     

How Its Made

I'm a sucker for learning how things are made.  Especially everyday items made from recognizable materials.  In that vein I found a video this morning via Flavorwire chronicling the making of a book.
   

This will join the ranks with this video:


Classic!

Reminiscing

While I was working in the shop yesterday one of the students mentioned she was getting pageant photos taken at "This is the Place Historical Park."  I told her that we had our engagement pictures taken there and I was really happy with the results.  I think the biggest reason I enjoyed the experience so much (apart from James) was that we had a great photographer, Becky Reed.  We were able to relax and be ourselves.   You probably can't tell but it had rained almost all day so the ground was very wet and it was COLD. That is the reason why I have a jacket on in some of the pictures.  The results were a mix of funny, romantic, silly, appropriate and memorable pictures that I think perfectly document our excitement and love.  Here are a few of my favorite funny and nice pictures.

All pictures by Becky Reed of Ravenberg Photography

My parents have this one on their wall

Alex is a missionary!

My little brother Alex went to the MTC today.  He is going to be a missionary in the Mexico Veracruz mission.  I know he'll do a great job.

We love you Alley!

(The pictures were taken by one of his friends, McKay Bailey)

Kind of morbid but it's October...

First up, a picture of the cutest girl in the world in her dress.  It fit!  The picture is a little blurry but you get the idea.

 During fall break we went exploring around Cache valley.  We drove to Millville and visited the park.  At first I wasn't as thrilled about playing but it was really fun.

  James loves his domes...

We drove down through the other towns until the road stopped being paved.  We figured that if we kept driving we could have wound up in Morgan. (Actually we would have wound up in Huntsville.  Tomato, tomato.)

We stopped by the cemetary in Millville on our way home.  My great-great-grandparents:

And my great-grandparents.  They were some of my favorite people.  I wish James could have met them.

 On Sunday we continued on with the creepy cemetery tours and drove out to Newton.  My great-grandma Keller (Grandma great) grew up there.  This is her parent's headstone:

It was fun to explore the valley and the leaves were so pretty.  But apparently not pretty enough to deserve a picture or two.

We're doing well, more of the same.  On of my friends is pregnant...with TWINS.  It's intense.  I'm not sure if I could handle something like that. (Knock on wood.)

Weddings, Rainbows and Weird Sculptures

So far the weekends in October have been intense in a good way.  Lots of stuff to do and people to see.  This Saturday we went to Salt Lake for my friend Kim's wedding.  I met Kim in Buffalo when she was investigating the church.  I was in the right place at the right time, I guess.

The happy couple leaving the temple

I don't know what was happening with my camera phone.  Oh wait, it's a camera phone...

 It's starting to cool down in Logan.  It's been rainy and overcast.  This past week we had not one but TWO rainbows by the canyon.

I joked with James that we should go to the water lab to pick up the pot of gold.  He didn't laugh.  The water lab is where James does his research and it's located near the mouth of the canyon.

The actual sign for the Chuck-A-Rama on 4th South.  Awesome.

 As we were walking in to Chuck-A-Rama I noticed a gigantic bird house but I didn't think much of it (probably because I was hungry.)  Afterwards I saw a sign on the fence in the parking lot that almost made me gasp.  GILGAL GARDEN.  It's one of those local placed I've wanted to visit but never got around to it.  Lucky for me, James is really obliging so we drove around the corner (we didn't realize it was so close) and spent a few minutes in the garden.

James and the Joseph Smith Sphinx.  I don't think James was excited.

Me and the statue of Child

 It was a weird place but sort of cool.  I'm glad I was able to finally visit it.  Thanks James!




One more thing: I handed in my final draft of my Plan B Report (thesis) on Friday.  It was 85 pages long!  Granted, there are a lot of pictures.

Death is not the end

Have you ever driven somewhere fairly far away, stayed for a short time and then driven back?  James and I did that yesterday.  On Friday we drove down to Midvale to his parent's house and then woke up EARLY on Saturday and drove to Washington (St. George.)  One of James' friends from his mission died last week from cancer.  She was only 30.  The funeral was an amazing tribute to a life well lived and well loved.

We woke up at 4:30 so we could be on the road by 5:00.  We figured we would give ourselves plenty of time to get there for the funeral at 11:00.

A view of the sunrise in one of side mirrors

The funeral was such a celebration of a wonderful young woman.  She touched so many lives, including my husband's.  They met on their missions and stayed in touch as they both attended USU.  When James had his jaw surgery, Whitni was one of the few who visited him.  Although I never met her I feel like I know more about her through the memories shared by her family and friends.  I'm looking forward to meeting her in the next life!

Apparently there were NO street signs in Washington!

Good bye Red Rocks!

 It was surprisingly tiring to spend that much time in the car (although waking up at 4:30 might be a huge part of the problem.)  When James and I woke up this morning, we felt like we hadn't slept at all.  We packed up the car and headed home for church.  Church is the best way to spend a Sunday.

I almost posted my journal entry from ten years ago.  I evidently thought I had written something profound to capture the feelings of a wounded nation but not so much.  I was overly flowery and just sounded ridiculous.  In fact, I read the entry to James without pre-reading it and he laughed.  It was that bad.  Here is what I remember:

I woke up that morning after the first plane hit.  I can't remember if I saw the second plane hit, the overwhelming news coverage sort of obscures the real memory.  I was weeks into my first semester at Weber State and I didn't have Dr. Elsley's Intro to Fiction class until 11:30.  I remember sitting on my parent's bed, glued to the TV, realizing that the world had been changed.  I called my friend Kristin because it was her birthday that day. (Side note, I had THREE friends who were born on awful days: Pearl Harbor Day, Oklahoma City Bombings and September 11th.)  The sight of the huge buildings falling down was shocking.  I had visited New York the year before and I had pictures of the twin towers as viewed from the Empire State Building.  I remember how eerily dark the sky was that night and the nights following.  

I'm off to watch the CES fireside with Elder and Sister Oaks.  You should too! It's on the BYU Channel right now!

One year! (Almost)

As of this Sunday, James and I will be married for ONE YEAR. It's flown by and I am so thankful that I married such a wonderful man. I mean, he's fantastic. I finished James' present on Friday and wrapped it the next day at my parent's house. We loaded it into the car on Sunday and drove home. Once we got home my excitement got the better of me and I gave James his present, early. Here is a play by play of the happenings...

Yes, it is wedding paper but I added "anniversary" so it's legit. Right?
James and his excited face.
Getting closer...
Tah-dah!

I got the idea from my cool friend Amanda who made one for her husband two years ago. I only had to buy one extra Scrabble board and the shadow box so it wasn't too bad, cost-wise. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Mid 6 had a gig on Saturday at the usual place. This gig was different because it was a benefit for a girl named Jillyn Larsen who is fighting cancer. A lot of people came and the band sounded great! I took a video but I'm not going to post it because the sound quality is awful. The band sounded a lot better than the video.
Anyway, I don't usually go to gigs because of the venue but I'm glad I went this time because...

1. it reminded me of why James plays in the band, he LOVES music
2. it was a benefit to help someone with cancer and cancer sucks.

It's the last week of Lyric so we're going to go see "Amadeus" in a few minutes. I filled in last week and it is a LONG show. Maybe it just seemed long because I just wanted to go home to my husband. Probably.

Ten years???

The past few weeks have been spent in more than a few different ways. James and I had our 10 year high school reunion the same weekend. Thankfully they were on different days. As I was driving I thought the sky looked so pretty I took a picture.

I got a picture with two of my high school friends, Becky and Kristin. We were pretty tight. I actually saw them a couple of times last summer because Becky took our amazing wedding pictures and Kristin came to some of the festivities.Me and James

Kristin and Jim

I've also been working on the wardrobe crew at the Lyric Theatre. I was hungry so I went over to Great Harvest and saw this funny sign. It's true.

I've also been working on "stuff" for the shows including this bodice, over skirt and skirt costume for Amadeus. It's not done in the picture and I didn't take a picture of it after I finished. Cartridge pleating kind of hurts your fingers.

I also made two coats for the Emperor in Amadeus. I didn't get a shot of the finished product, it's missing the cuffs which really finish the whole thing off. I also made a gold coat with a different pattern but similar idea.During "Little Shop" I have a costume assist where I help Audrey put on her sweater. This is what I see while I wait. Kind of scary.
My friend/boss/mentor/big sister/shop manager, Amanda, is moving to Wisconsin in less than a month. She and her husband blessed their baby this weekend. Kamee and I played costume shop mice and finished Amanda's dress for her. She was really stressed out and we thought, "Hey! We can follow a pattern!" So we left it on her porch. We are all going to miss this great family, a lot.

The one where my brother got married, old toys were found and I got closer to 30...

I realized that it has been almost a month since I last blogged. That is sort of crazy because it's not like I haven't had things to write about or pictures to post. A lot of stuff has happened. Let the spewing begin....

Jordan married Lindsey in the Bountiful Temple on June 18th. The sealing was beautiful and I'm so grateful that so many of the family was able to be there. Afterwards we did the customary pictures by the fountain. I didn't take any of those so you'll have to let this one suffice.
They had their reception at Mom and Dad's cultural hall, just like us. It's so convenient to have our parent's house so close! I liked this shot of right after they cut the cake. I think it sums up Jord and Lindsey:

And my brother, looking ridiculously happy. I'm so glad they found each other, I really like the new Lindsey Keller.Oh, and they had Mid 6 play. I think the drummer is pretty hot.

The week after the wedding was pretty busy because "Little Shop of Horrors" opened and we had a whole week of dress rehearsals and performances. This meant I was gone for most of the day, except for a short dinner break between costume shop work and dressing work at the theatre. I'm lucky enough to have a husband who can cook:
Doesn't that look amazing?!? Most of the toppings were in our Bountiful Basket from the weekend before. I love getting my vegetables on pizza.

Jumping to another subject; does anyone remember Playground Kids? I found the dolls that Hil and I had. I can even remember most of the their names: Laura, Julie? Becky, Tracy, Amy and Lindsey. Granted, after a certain amount of time the manufacturer printed the doll's name on their oversized shoe. I really liked these toys. I used to play with these with my friend Brandi.

Jumping ahead to this past weekend, we went to my parent's house to celebrate the holiday weekend and some birthdays. My Grandpa Arbuckle's birthday is July 2nd but when I was growing up he used to tease me that he was going to change his birthday to the 5th so we would have the same birthday. I like this shot of my maternal grandparents and Parker, even though PJ doesn't look too happy to be there.

Moving right along to today, I went out to dinner with my wonderful in-laws as well as James' sister Candice and her cute son. They came up to visit for the holiday and to wish me an early happy birthday.
My dinner was wonderful and yes, I just turned 8...
Melanie brought a cake she decorated especially for my birthday:
I really married into such a wonderful family! They have been so welcoming and loving. I really am so lucky!

Once it got dark enough, James and I decided to finally use the sparklers my friend Amanda gave us last summer. The fourth isn't the fourth unless you have sparklers.

I figured out that the pictures work better with the flash OFF.
Artistic fun with our sparklers...
James spelled out his name but I only got "Jam," backwards. It's still really cool!

It's supposed to be a star...
Neat squiggles...
Well, I think that about wraps it up! Hopefully I won't be as busy but I sort of doubt it!