Zion!

Zion!
Love this place and these people

Monday, February 27, 2012

Where does the time go? Part 3

It's not even the last day of February, which is a short month anyway, and I'm already posting.  Here's to overcoming my habit of procrastination, baby steps.

August


I forgot a very important part of the month of August, a trip to Rexburg, ID to visit my adopted family the Walkers.  I first met the Walker family my freshmen year at Ricks College.  A guy I was dating introduced me to them.  His older brother is their son-in-law and he would go to their weekly Sunday dinners.  I went a few times with him but by the time we stopped dating, the family loved me so much that I still got invited to Sunday dinners and other activities.  Dave and Claudia became my parents.  Misty, Jaclyn, Jill, Jenny and Kevin became my siblings.  Julie and James became my cousins.  The adventures are too many to recount here, but they were a huge part of my life for the two years I was in Idaho.  So when I found out Dave was retiring after 30 years of working at Ricks, I had to go up to attend the festivities.  I hadn't seen any of them in years and it was such a wonderful weekend.  Kevin, an 11 year old when I first met him, had just returned from his mission and spoke in church that Sunday.  Yes, that was a little weird.  Especially because he moved down here to SLC to play basketball for SLCC putting us essentially in the same social scene.  I felt a little bit old.  But it was so wonderful to see all of them.  I am so grateful that they took me in and treated me as one of their own.  I love them.



Dave was a football coach.


His first year coaching was the first year of my life.


Love this photo.


Dave and Claudia.  Love them.


The siblings.  You can just see how much fun we had.


I also got to hang out with my cute niece and nephews.  I can't remember why they were in town, but we went for my favorite treat, frozen yogurt.  I always get the tart with granola and fruit.  Allie, Tyler and Trent wanted chocolate and vanilla swirl with sprinkles, malt balls and of course gummy worms.  Not delicious.  But they sure are adorable.



And then the craziness started.  Just thinking about it stresses me out a little bit.  I thought I worked a lot as an accountant, but that was nothing compared to my fall busy season as a recruiter.  I won't go into the gory details, but it took over my life and with the exception of one or two activities, I had no life outside of work from the end of August through Thanksgiving.  The good news is that even though it was crazy, I love my job.  It is so much fun, exhausting but fun.  I love working with the students, faculty and professionals. 

September

Several members of my family have a small obsession with Taylor Swift or T-Swizzle, you choose.  She came to Salt Lake and my parents gave Shandi a ticket for her birthday and Brianna, Saryn, Cailey and I went with her.  I was a fan before, I love her music, but after her concert I have to admit that I am also a little bit obsessed.  I actually saw her open for Rascal Flatts out in DC over four years ago before she was a big deal and I wasn't that impressed.  But this concert was unbelievable!  It was practically a broadway show with all the costume and set changes she had.  Dancers coming down from the ceiling and out of the stage, Taylor flying through the air on a balcony, confetti coming down from the ceiling.  It was a dream.  It may have also developed due to the fact that we were invited to attend Taylor's private "T" party after the show.  Bree had been telling us about these before the concert.  She has people assigned to walk through the audience during the concert to select fans to come to an after party with pizza and the chance to meet Taylor and the band.  Of course I thought there was no way we would ever get picked so I didn't really think about it.  I'm not sure if it was the matching shirts Cailey made for us or the fact that we were dancing and singing our hearts out from our floor seats, but during the third or fourth song I was singing and dancing along when I heard Cailey and Shandi screaming.  I later found out that a random girl had approached them and asked if they had ever met Taylor.  They said no and she asked them if they would like to.  That's when the screams started.  When I turned to see what was going on, we all crowded around this girl and she asked us if we would like to attend the "T" party after the concert.  I may have started screaming and jumping up and down like a 14 year old girl.  I couldn't help it.  Just knowing that we were going to meet her after the show made the concert that much better.  I loved every minute. 


Just outside the concert in our matching shirts.


Inside the concert waiting for Taylor to come on.










In the "T" Party room


With guitar player Grant (I had to look up his name).


Yes that is Taylor.  She is so nice.  

October

Not realizing just how crazy my life was still going to be, I planned a trip to NY and DC in the middle of October.  Unfortunately I ended up working a lot more than I would have liked to, but at least I got to play with some of my favorite people.  Christina took the bus up from DC and we stayed with Adrienne for a couple of days.  We had perfect weather the whole time we were there.  


I love this girl.  And I love this photo of us.


And this photo.


And especially this photo.  We got several donuts from the donut factory and we ate all of them.  This particular one was a coconut cream that was one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten.


I think we should be on their ads.  Donuts and milk on a sunny morning in Central Park, it doesn't get much better.


The 9/11 Memorial is breathtaking.  Go see it as soon as you have a chance.  It is a wonderful memorial to all those whose lives were lost that day. 



Our friend Sara happened to be visiting NY the same days we were there.



It's hard to tell but that is a waterfall behind us going into a hole that is I believe the same size as the base of the building.  It is pretty incredible


Christina is wearing all 12 scarves that we purchased in China Town that day.  Of course making a face with our friend Dave.


We are fun.  That's really all there is to say about the three of us.  I wish we all lived together.  Oh the good times we would have.  After we went to get dessert we just stood on the street corner and talked and laughed for almost an hour.  Love you both!

I also got to visit DC for less than 48 glorious hours.  I didn't take any photos, but I had such a wonderful time catching up with all of my nearest and dearest in that city I love.  I am trying hard to find time for my next trip.

The one other non-work related adventure during the crazy month of October was the annual So You Think You Can Dance tour.  Bree and I are a little obsessed so we of course went.  This was my fourth year in a row.  It wasn't as good as last year and I missed my DC groupies, but it was still worth it.


 It is now much later than it should be and I have eaten way more cookies than I should have to keep me awake.  So the rest of it will have to come later.  Hopefully the next post will bring us up to the current day.











1 comment:

  1. I love it. I may not love how crazy busy you are sometimes, but I love the adventures you're having. I also LOVED our trip to NYC! Just looking at those pics of the two of us makes me smile from ear to ear. I also think it's kind of hilarious to think that I'm now dating that Dave guy. Hee. Love you, my dear!

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