Sleepy

Today is a tough day. It is friday - which can mean so many different things! Today it means work is even slower than usual, I am unfocused and I've already looked at the clock 750 times. All I’ve wanted, all day, is to take a nap.

Last night Seth and I were up late due to a friend’s car trouble.

Seth and Charlie decided to take a trip up to a shop where Seth could purchase fly tying materials. (Charlie has promised to teach him how to tie flies). This particular shop happens to be in Ogden, UT, which is an hour or so north of us. On the way home, Charlie’s car lost all power, so the boys found themselves stranded in Clearfield, UT. They hung out in a Chevron parking lot for a good part of the evening while arrangements were made for towing, mechanical service and a way home.

So, I was having a great, relaxing evening at home, just about ready to put on pajamas and settle into bed (wondering a little about Seth’s expected arrival home) when my phone rang. It was not without some grumbling, therefore, that I was alerted to their being stranded in Clearfield (which I’d never heard of before) and that it was my duty to come pick them up. Now, I don’t want you to get entirely the wrong idea about this situation… I was grouchy about my bedtime plans being disrupted, but understood their predicament and didn’t really mind heading out to get them.

Approximately an hour later I arrived in Clearfield, expecting them to be ready to jump in the car and head back into good ol’ SLC. Instead, we three waited for the tow truck to arrive. An hour or so later we were on our way. An hour or so later we were dropping off Charlie and 20 minutes later Seth and I were pulling into our driveway. This now puts us 3 and a half hours past my bedtime… and me miserably nighttime sick… and it all cast a definite shadow over today. (Now that I say that, though, I feel poorly because I’m not the one with a non-functioning car!)

Seth and Charlie will head back up to Clearfield this evening to pick up the now fixed vehicle. Hopefully they’ll get home a little earlier tonight. ☺ I’ll try out the bus system again and pray that it doesn’t make me sick. I’m finding that moving vehicles are my greatest enemy these days. Without them my stomach feels yucky but does not act upon its feelings. With them I’m miserable.

On the bright side of this situation, however, we got to spend more time with Charlie. He is one of Seth’s fellow interns at the VA and a really fun guy. He has this super dog, too, named Leo. I’m thankful for getting to know more people here in SLC.

It must be time...

for another post.

Nothing super exciting has happened this week... so I've felt a little bit silly about writing. I guess when one announces something so big as having a baby, then everything else just seems ordinary and mundane. But, since I spend so much of my time at work reading other people's blogs, and hoping they have posted new information (no matter how mundane) I figure it's time for something new.

The other hump I need to get over is the feeling that I should have pictures to attach to everything. Alas, I'm truly bad at taking pictures, especially of everyday things.

It snowed in the mountains this past weekend. They looked so beautiful! But, it has warmed back up this week, so the mountains are now right back to their old brown and red selves.

Last night was the 3rd meeting of the Russian Jewish choir that I'm accompanying. I say "meeting" instead of "rehearsal" because we've spent much more time eating together than singing together so far. I've been assured this is not the normal way of things, however.

Yesterday was a really special night. We celebrated the birthdays of 3 choir members - Yacov, Fema and Yuri. They were turning 90, 85 and 80 this week! Three very important ages. I knew we were having some festivities, but understood they would be after rehearsal. I also imagined the traditional American cake and ice cream, possibly accented by balloons. Well, I was in for a surprise!

Since family members of the birthday boys as well as representatives from the Veteran’s Association were there to help us celebrate, we nixed rehearsal altogether and headed for an amazingly stocked table. There were cards and flowers and balloons, meats, breads, cakes, traditional Russian dishes that baffled me (the greatest being “herring under a fur coat”), salads, drinks and ice cream for dessert. They started with ceremonial presentations of the cards and flowers and then moved on to toasts. Food was next, but no one had warned me that Russian tradition teaches it is rude to fill your own plate. Therefore, your neighbors heap your plate with whatever is close by. (Imagine me trying to communicate and explain, knowing absolutely no Russian, that I avoid wheat and dairy – and now meats like salami – so I can really only have the orange juice!)

While the mad shuffle of neighbors filling each other’s plates was happening, people were also trying to speak to the group. There were stories, jokes and toasts going all evening. It was a fun filled time, joy being echoed all around the table, but it was also strange and a bit uncomfortable. I’m sad I was unable to try much of the food, but mostly because my table-mates were so concerned that I was starving. ☺ Of course, since I had assumed only cake and ice cream, and thought it would be served an hour later than the meal actually began, I had eaten before coming to practice.

Liz, the coordinator for the choir, is a young twenty-something who spent time in Kurdistan learning Russian. She is a great translator and very fun herself, but she found it difficult to translate much of the humor happening last night.

The best little tidbit of information I learned, though, is that anyone over the age of 80 may ski at many of the ski resorts in Utah for free! And even better, Yacov, the 90 year old, is an avid skier! He was even teasing us about his learning how to do aerials out at the Olympic training stadium. I hope I look as young (and act as young) as he does at 90!

Life's Little Miracles

Hey guys -

Seth and I have some great news... we're having a baby! I'm 9 weeks along now, so our little one is due at the end of April next year.

We're experiencing a lot of changes and I'm having a bit of trouble adjusting to my body's need for so much sleep! Things seem to be going well, however, and we'll keep you posted. We have a doctor's appointment scheduled for Friday, October 5th where we will get to hear the heartbeat, etc. At the moment, I'm just trying to stay awake at work and keep my appetite strong.

We've had fun getting books from the library and finding out how quickly our embryo is growing. He/She supposedly looks mostly human now and is about an inch long. Up until now, as we've looked at the developmental pictures, we've referred to our little one as "the alien." Endearing, I know. :)

Does anyone know anything about the United Church of Christ?

Hey everyone -

Seth and I are having an interesting time trying to find a church where we're comfortable here in Utah. I say "interesting" because at times it has felt like an adventure and at other times it's just felt difficult. We've tried 5 or 6 and the last one we tried we've now gone to for 3 weeks. It's called Holladay United Church of Christ. Their website is www.holladayucc.org if you'd like to check it out. We like it okay, but we're wondering if okay is good enough? It stands miles above the others... but is that enough reason to stop looking?

One of the things I was really looking for in a church was the opportunity to join a small group and this church has some, but it isn't feeling really easy to get connected. They also don't really have adult sunday school. They do have a lot of musical opportunities, however, and Seth is fairly interested in seeing if we could both join a worship team. I'm not sure, however, that I want to jump into such a responisibiity so quickly.

We like the services in general. And, I really like the pastor. We've also felt like the people in this congregation know how to make new people feel welcome and comfortable. Plus, we found this church by going to a David Wilcox concert and a congregation that appreciates David Wilcox is a wonderful group of people. :)

Seth and I find ourselves really liking Salt Lake City and finding that almost everyone we meet is friendly and kind. We find, however, that although there are copious amounts of LDS wards, the other church denominations are only scantily represented. Our landlord, who is also our next door neighbor, said, "I'm sorry I can't help you find a church very well. I just don't really know where the non-LDS churches are. All my friends who live here who aren't LDS just don't go to church." It really feels like that is true. Some of the churches we've attended have big, beautiful buildings, but then hardly anyone is there.

I think the hardest thing right now is that we've been here long enough we no longer feel so nakedly new and that makes us more ansty to settle somewhere. We're ready for deeper relationships with people and feeling like we have some solid friends. Seth has formed some good relationships with the other interns at the VA (especially his fishing budding, Charlie), and it's nice that I have gals to chat with at work, but we're ready for some friends we've gleaned from a wider circle.

Boring...

I’m so tired of reading books online, hoping friends and family have written new posts on their blogs and surfing the internet for who knows what. Someone once told me that intelligent people never get bored. I don’t believe it.

So, for several hours I’ve been thinking I should write, as it would be therapeutic to my bored self. But, I’m afraid everything I write will be boring, too!

And why am I so bored, you ask?

Well, I took this great job at the University of Utah. I work the front desk in the Art and Art History Department. Theoretically, I get to work with funky, fun, creative people. I get to help students, answer the phone, sort the mail and do anything else that seems to be needed. When I interviewed, the other gals in the office acted like they really needed someone who could multi-task. They also acted like their days were overwhelming, everyone having entirely too much to do – they really needed someone who could work efficiently and could easily handle a job with little down time. So I jumped at the chance. I figured an academic setting would do me good.

Unfortunately, they were talking about their own jobs, and not at all about this position. Apparently, I’m the receptionist. Of course, that’s not how it was marketed or I’d never have taken it. I will the phone to ring.

I’ve taken to reading books online, writing letters to myself, answering any email that comes my way on a weekday in record time and truly appreciating any tidbits of news I can glean from the blogs I read. I look forward every day to the 30 minutes or so, around 2:30 pm, when one of the other girls in the office steps out for lunch. It usually sparks some conversation between the third gal in our office and myself. We happen to be the same age and have similar interests. I don’t know why we don’t chat as much with Jenni here, too, but the atmosphere changes drastically when there are only two.

I guess I probably blow all this out of proportion, but I just need to keep busy! It feels like wasting time, and the minutes go by so incredibly slowly. Every once in a while I am assigned some bigger project, or there is a day here or there where students come by constantly with questions or needs, but those fly by so quickly. I’d guess that’s only one day a week. The rest of the week I do about 2 hours of work during an 8 hour day.

The people I talk to around here tell me I should just get another job. I guess that seems sensible in some ways, but they didn’t just go through the whole crazy job search thing a month ago! They probably also don’t have the crazy, yet fierce sense of loyalty I do. I don’t know why, but I despise quitting things.

So, if you write me an email any time between 8 am and 5 pm, don’t be alarmed if you get a quick response. If you write to me any other time, don’t expect to get a response until I’m back at work, willing the phone to ring.

Pumpkin Muffins

So, my cousin Hannah recently posted a whole bunch of amazing food pictures along with recipes for a fabulous meal she cooked... and for dessert, she made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins. Well, I've been craving pumpkin chocolate chip muffins for the last 3 weeks or so. I've only held myself out for them because it hasn't quite felt enough like Fall yet. Until the blog post. That night I made an enormous batch of them.

The last couple of mornings have therefore been fabulous!

And here's the recipe in case someone else is having autumnal pumpkin cravings:

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups pumpkin
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 36 muffin cups or line with paper bake cups. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in medium bowl. Combine eggs and sugar in large bowl. Add pumpkin and oil; mix well. Stir in flour mixture until moistened. Stir in chocolate chips. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched. Cool in pans on wire racks for 5 minutes.

The Obsession Continues

So, yesterday, I was feeling antsy and wanted to get outside and get moving. Seth wanted to fish. We compromised by deciding for him to bring his fishing gear along on a hike. We drove up to Little Cottonwood Canyon (only a few miles from our house) and hiked along the Little Cottonwood Creek. It turned out to be a lot of climbing over rocks, trees and logs and not a lot of traditional hiking. But, eventually we did find a nice trail to walk that wove back and forth between strictly forest and bordering the creek. Now, I call it a creek, because that's its name, but this is the biggest creek I've seen in my life!

Our camera wasn't working during the time Seth was actually fishing, so I missed out on getting pictures of him, but we did get a few of the landscape and a few of the strange ruins we accidentally happened upon. We're really curious as to what they were - I mean, obviously a building, but to what purpose? Seth did some research on the internet when we got back, trying to figure it out, and found other pictures of the ruins, but nothing that told us what it was. We figure it had something to do with the mining community, which was huge in the canyon for years, but the strange thing is its architecture.

Anyway, Seth was feeling adventurous, so he found a way to cross the creek (definitely a river at this point) and wandered through the building, taking pictures. I stayed safely on the other side and enjoyed watching. Actually, I wish I had followed him, but I really wasn't in the mood to get wet!


This evening, as I write and clean and relax, Seth and Charlie are fishing again. Maybe they'll bring me a nice late dinner. :)

Fly Fishing Adventures

For a couple of years, Seth has said he wants to learn how to fly fish. I've known he's serious, but he hasn't really had the chance to go out on a river with someone else who is experienced and willing to teach him the basics. Plus, he's been busy with school and our old house that had to be worked on all the time...

Then we moved to Utah. Something about this place just totally set him off. He's talked of fishing over and over and over again. (Not in a bad way, just in a passionate way). Luckily, he's also made friends with one of his fellow interns at the VA, Charlie, and Charlie happens to be an accomplished fly fisherman. So, several weeks ago now, Seth and Charlie and another intern set out for an afternoon of fishing. Seth came back with three fish! And, a determination to learn everything he possibly can from Charlie.

So, they've taken outings to get Seth all the gear he needs as well as several fishing expeditions. These pictures are from a week or so ago when they explored the Strawberry River. It is north of us, about 2 hours. They didn't come back with any fish, but each caught a couple during the afternoon.

Labor Day Trip to Wyoming

Well, I know it's a little late to post about Labor Day, but that's pretty much the last time we did something fun and exciting.

Seth and I took a little trip (5 1/2 hours) up to Wyoming to visit our friends Kayli and Amanda as well as check out the Grand Tetons National Park. It was a beautiful drive with bright blue skies and amazing views. The changes in the scenery from Utah to Wyoming were breathtaking. Utah is full of browns and reds this time of year, but Wyoming was green.

We camped inside the national park at Lizard Creek Campground Saturday and Sunday night. Sunday we took a trip to the Visitor's Center so Kayli could get all the materials to become a Junior Ranger, and then we went hiking. Kayli learned how to skip rocks during the weekend, and had a great time fishing with Seth.

The drive back was also beautiful, but I must admit, I slept through most of it. :)