field trips

Sorry, it's me again. Bret still needs to post. So here's more from Utah....

These last two weeks have been busy and have therefore gone by pretty fast. My sister Sarah Jane and her family were in town and when they come, the rest of the family rallies together for a lot of quality time and planned activities. I'm always happy when they come but even more grateful this time for all the distractions from missing a husband. Here's a sampling of our field trips:

Thanksgiving Point Farm

Hogle Zoo

They like stripes

We also had a few BBQs, saw Toy Story 3, hit up the pool a couple times...

...and had our annual trip up to Camp Thompson in Park City.

(this picture was taken upon Bret's request to show my progress -30 weeks!)

It was great having the Bowens in town. Not only will I miss having things to do but I'll miss the companionship of another pregnant person around to go on long walks, get pedicures and complain about various aching body parts with. We're also quite a novelty when the two of us go out together- getting a lot of second looks and, "Are you both pregnant?.. and sisters?" kind of questions. But I think the most interesting encounter was with a guy that came to clean my mom's carpets. I answered the door and shortly after my sister came down the stairs. We were certain he thought it was a house for unmarried pregnant women but he later admitted to suspicions of a "Big Love" kind of situation. Glad we could set him straight.

flashback: nyc summer '05

Since my life has slowed down considerably this summer, I thought I'd take the opportunity to reflect back on some good times gone-by. This time I'm looking back five years into the past, Summer 2005, when I lived in NYC with a few good friends: Abbie, Danielle and Rachel.

First of all, I can't believe that it's already been FIVE years since we did that. Time sure flies. Secondly, these pictures were taken back in the olden days of what was then known as "FILM" photography. Our scanner isn't awesome and to be honest I didn't take too much time to perfect them so please forgive the very poor quality. You'll get the idea.

Shopping

In style that summer: those little Asian slip-on shoes with beading all over them (by this time it was the more pointy versions), and the first signs of bigger purses and big beaded necklaces. Frequent stops included Urban Outfitters and Forever 21 - back before they were in Utah and therefore a novelty- canal street and H&M. It also helped that Rach and Danielle worked at Banana Republic where we used their discount :). How did I make money? The meager funds I earned and quickly spent were made as a part-time nanny for a little boy named Linus.

Shows

This was the first time I ever saw Wicked. We made going to the lottery a regular activity until we won enough times that we all had the chance to see it. Other shows we saw that summer were Chitti-Chitti Bang Bang, Moving Out and Putnam County Spelling Bee. We also hit up a couple Philharmonic concerts in the park and Destiny's Child on the Today Show. A couple of us even took dance classes at the Broadway Dance Center.

Restaurants

Our favs included Serendipity 3, Cosi, Deluxe, Lombardi's, Grey Dog, Tasti D-lite and the recession special at Gray's Papaya (pictured). This was also the summer the Shake Shack opened!

Other points of note:

- Harry Potter 6 came out while I was there and I made everyone go to a midnight party at Barnes and Noble with me to get it.

- We held a standing goal of making pilgrimages to every location from "You've got Mail" that we possibly could.

- Spent our Sunday nights on the grounds of Columbia's campus (just a block from us) where we would read and write in our journals surrounded by fireflies. Before that, I actually thought fireflies were a made-up magical creature.... seriously.

- Had to visit the public library down the street for internet access where we were usually met by our crazy neighbor, Joy, who had at least a story or two to share with us.

-Like all New York apartments, we had some run-ins with cockroaches. Our wimpy way of handling them was to put a cup over them until they suffocated. When one particularly stubborn bug wouldn't die after a few days under a cup, Rachel finally chucked both the cup and bug out the window.

- We went out clubbing only once with some people from Rachel's work but didn't last too long. Upon returning home the only key we brought for our apartment wasn't opening our door. After nearly an hour of sitting in the hallway, it finallyopened once we said a prayer. It works, folks.

I'm glad I did so much to document this first summer away from home; I kept all my tickets, wrote a full journal and even kept another smaller notebook where I recored for each day some bullet points of what we did, what I ate, how much money I spent and what on (something I repeated while in London).

Sure we spent a lot (if not all) of our savings, didn't have any air conditioning in our sweltering apartment and a couple of us came home with some really bad self-dyed hair (see me in Gray's Papaya picture). But I think we all grew up a little, not to mention, had an amazing time. The best part? It all started as a dream - a lot of talk and wishful thinking - but we made it happen.

P.S. I'm trying to get B to do a post about his time so far in Brazil, then you won't have to hear all this fluff from me anymore.

my life in art

An insight into my life right now through works of art:

A lot of just kickin' it and missing B while he's gone...

.... while pregnant....

....and awaiting his return.

Also, trying not to stress too much.

Looking forward to:

Being reunited with husband before baby comes (fingers crossed)...

... and having a puppy, too, for that matter. Someday, anyway.

Moving to Brazil...

...having my own home again...

...and lots of cuddle time with baby.

(a glimpse of my more distant future)

Can't wait! In the meantime I'll keep plugging along, writing silly blog posts and such. What work of art would you say embodies your life right now?

bugged

(Warning: I'm about to vent about something that doesn't really matter..)

I decided to let this go a couple of months ago but it has come to my attention again and I feel the need to say something. You see, I'm not a huge fan of that band Owl City but last fall/winter when we were in Seattle I heard that "Hello, Seattle" song of theirs and I quite liked it, maybe because I agreed that Seattle was great and deserved a song about it. Flash forward to a couple months ago when we're now in Utah and I heard it on the radio for the first time. After listening for a few seconds I realize, to my utter disappointment, that they've changed the lyrics to say "Hey, Salt Lake City" instead of "Hello, Seattle". BAAAAHH! What a joke, especially because the rest of the lyrics, that clearly describe Seattle and the ocean and everything, are still unchanged in the song. I mean, come on people! That's like taking that New York song by Jay-Z and changing the chorus to say " You're in Salt Lake!". It doesn't work, and its a disgrace to the city for which it rightfully belongs. I wonder, did they change this song to adapt to multiple cities? Has anyone out there heard a "Hey, San Francisco" or "Hello, Dallas" version? I'm sure they were just trying to get people from all over to identify with the song but, as a former resident of Seattle, I am extremely bugged.

As I said, I first became aware of this a month or so ago and was super annoyed but I decided to let it go. I heard it again today (I don't listen to the radio that often) and for some reason felt compelled to vocalize my frustrations, even if only through this little blog of ours. I recognize that there are much more important issues affecting our world to be upset about but, for whatever reason, this one got to me. Perhaps I'm just projecting my sadness of missing Seattle in general (and my husband I suppose) onto a silly band that can't give a great city its proper due. So there you go, Seattle - I got your back.

P.S. Do you miss me as much as I miss you?

gone

Yep, my Bret is gone. And life has been pretty slow and lonely without him. I'm just so grateful for Skype and Vonage that allow me to talk and video chat with B multiple times a day - he even watched my nieces and nephews perform a talent show today on my parent's front lawn via Skype. What a contrast to three years ago when he was there on a study abroad (when we were basically engaged) and we could only talk about once a week using expensive phone cards. I am beyond grateful for the progress of modern technology (a la Kip from Napoleon Dynamite). I am also so grateful for everyone who has shown me support and love already. Perhaps I'll survive the summer after all.

Since my life has slowed down considerably since his departure, I'll just fill you in on stuff we did before he left. I admit, this is one of those posts that doesn't really have a point except to document our lives for posterity. So get ready for a potpourri of pictures...


One thing we've done a lot of lately is walking/hiking. It's great because it's both free and necessary for me since that's about the only physical activity I seem capable of these days.


Puttering along the Bonneville shoreline trail


Ensign Peak


Bret and I, well particularly Bret, really likes birds so when I told him an aviary exists in Liberty Park we decided to include it in one of our walks. I think we were probably the only ones there not on field trip, which is ironic because I recall not really appreciating that field trip in my early days. Thanks to Bret and Scooter, I have certainly changed my ways.

Before B and the Rigbys left we had a little get together with some friends at the Long's. They even surprised me with an early (and delicious) birthday cake. They're awesome, just like Stuart's stache in this picture.

That group of guys are at it again with their little made-up games. For the past few months they've been going crazy over a game they invented called hand golf that involves throwing tennis balls at things. They often get together and play it for hours at various parks and high schools, attracting a lot weird looks. They played it on this night but once they got back they couldn't resist doing another game: rolling the tennis ball across the beam to knock off the marker at the end. Simple, yes, but I recall only one of them (mustache) being able to do it.

I've mentioned before how Bret has become my little gourmet cook lately. Well my new favorite thing in the world is his delectable Chicken Tikka Masala. I swear, it's even better than Bombay House's Masala (the picture does not do it justice). I think I miss it almost as much as him.... almost.

We made it on a few occasions before he left - a couple of times for friends which we traded dinner nights with. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of those excellent meals but I do have some from the bonfire we had at the Cramers after they made us a lovely BBQ dinner last week.



Cheers.

Even Phoebe the dog got cozy by the fire.

And finally, celebrating my birthday with the fam. We also stayed at a hotel up in Park City as a last hurrah/birthday trip but the only picture we took is really frumpy of me so I'm excluding it. Oh well.