Number Five

It's anniversary number five this week for Heb and I. Unbelievable. When did I become a non-newlywed? More on this later. Hebs gave me his gift a few weeks early, mostly because you have to go to Oregon to find places that offer classes where you work with glass. As you can tell from many posts before, I am pretty much enamored with glass in any form, I so enjoy working with it to make beads or anything else.

Heb, our sister-in-law Nicole, and I were able to go for a 4 hour class to really learn how to work with glass to make ornaments, drinking glasses and paperweights. We didn't just watch someone make them, we learned the process and did it ourselves. How I wish I lived near one of these places that I could take classes and really master this.

We stood at the 2,500 degree furnace to get the molten glass out. We worked the colors in and worked with the tools to shape them. I was so inspired to come home and work more at my bead making. We brought home some really fun items - they may not be perfect, the first ones never are, but they are our work.




Heber gives very thoughtful gifts, even from the first. It reminds me of the first birthday that Heb and I were dating (just a month in). My mom told me later that when she saw the gift, she knew that Heber was the one I was going to marry, even 3 years before we got engaged. He had put together a bag of all of my favorite things - chips, salsa, starburst jelly beans, etc. He also made a small bat that he created an ad for, he called it the "tommy whacker" to keep all the other boys away. I guess it worked.

A Year Ago

I can't remember if I've written about this before, but I have a funny habit of thinking back to what I was doing exactly a year ago. I like to see where I was and how far I've come.

One year ago I was starting grad school. I came from a series of terrible job experiences and a realization that what I graduated in before was NOT what I wanted to do for a career. I had been accepted into my program and was proud of myself for realizing what I wanted to do with my life (I hoped, anyway).

Today is the first day of school. Fall semester has come again. There's so much that I love about this time of year - the new freshman on campus with the "deer in the headlights" look (I so remember feeling like that my first few days of school), new possibilities and friends to make.

I think this may be my last fall semester ever. This past year has been so good for me. I feel like my confidence has grown, I feel stronger and more sure about what I'm doing and who I want to be. Most of all, I've found things to be excited about. Like, who knew that I really liked HTML and web design? I took the class this summer and was excited to learn and had a desire to learn more (does that rarely happen to other people as well?).

With the new year starting and fun classes at last, I'm just excited.

Highlights

I finally got home on Sunday. It had been two weeks - one for work, one for play. As you can tell from my last post, the conference was not that bad. Something that I am truly grateful for. I was in Park City but it was much less stressful. No angry boss, I had time to do everything, people weren't breathing down my neck and it was just generally better.

It's funny the things you do as a conference coordinator. I felt like the mom all week. I cleaned up the messes, provided food and made sure all of the needs were met. I'm still tired thinking about it.

I got home on Friday at 5 and we flew out of Salt Lake on Saturday at 3. It was an absolute whirlwind but it was good getting away and not thinking about work for a whole week. Highlights would have to be:
- Heber's gourmet mac and cheese (that man of mine makes a mean mac and cheese)
- the most incredible toy store that had everything. Why don't we have one of these here? There were tables where the kids could play with almost all of the toys. Obviously, Heber had a great time.
- Hiding with my 3 year old nephew to scare Heber and him tooting and giving me a "what?" kind of look. Stinking funny, literally.
- The loop of waterfalls and hikes. AMAZING! I filled up on the green and lushness of it all. I know in just a few months here it will be brown and gray for a long time.
- The beach. Playing in the sand and eating the best hippy pizza. What is it about hippies and incredible food. I even tried duck for the first time. I could move there just for that.

But most of all, just spending time with the families up there. I miss them. Here are some shots of the trip.

Love from PC

I am in Park City this week. Thankfully, it has been much better than the last course. Still sane, though slightly sleep deprived. I have carried enough ice bags for a lifetime, arranged coffee far too many times and am on a first name basis with all of the employees at the UPS store (where I get copies made). You can tell that I'm pretty ready for all of this to be over. But, all in all, it hasn't been that bad, really.

The thought of going on a vacation with Heber next week is keeping me going. Just a few more days and we will be back in the Portland area. I know what you are all thinking..my goodness, you go to Oregon alot. Well, it's true, because we love the area and we love the people there. We bounced around several different vacation ideas including the Redwoods, Yellowstone, even Seattle and we just couldn't commit until it was Oregon.

Oh, and I cut my hair. All of it off. I'm really liking it.

The End of an Era

I have spent many evenings in this dining room, sitting around a table and laughing about green beans and bread. We've eaten chinese food, thanksgiving dinner and any number of delectable desserts. Badmitton in the backyard and movie nights, taking about the best and worst of books. I'm going to miss this.

With fall growing closer, things begin to change again. It happens every year but this one is particularly different with several of our close friends moving on to bigger and better things. I'm happy that they have found jobs and graduate schools but a part of me will really miss them.

Austin and Meg are some of the best people I know. We lived next door to them in our first married apartment. If snow fell, you can bet they'll be out scraping the walk, the minute the hood went up on a car for repair, Austin would come out and lend a hand. Even when we moved into our condo and spent hours taking old floor out and putting new floor in, they were there scrapping away with us. Don't even get me started about tearing out the upstairs bathroom.

I aspire to be that kind of friend that steps in and lends a hand. The kind you can call for anything. When those move on, there is a big loss. (and we're talking about 3 of these couples going. boo.)

In honor of them leaving, I want to share my favorite story about them - a true classic. Hebs and I planted some cherry tomatoes and asked them to watch them for a week while we headed out of town. Soon after, a party was going on nearby and Austin pulled out some earplugs to get some rest. He dreamed about our cherry tomatoes, picking them off the vine and eating the delicious fruit until there was one that he just couldn't get down. It was so chewy. He woke up then and out of his mouth pulled the chewed up earplug. :)

The best part of the story is that he had to wake up Meg to tell her all about it and rushed to our house first thing in the morning to tell the tale.

We'll miss you all. How will we survive without you? Ok, I'm being dramatic but really.